The Twin Swords of Konoha
by MT Pocketts
Summary: There were two famous ninjas named Uchiha Itoichi and Kaede, called the Twin Swords because of their ability to work well together. When they died, their daughter went unknown until paperwork began to resurface nearly 15 years later. [Neji x Tenten]
1. The Twin Swords

The Twin Swords of Konoha

by MT Pocketts

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. Or Tenten. Or Neji. Or Sasuke…

**Summary:** There were two famous ninjas named Uchiha Itoichi and Kaede. They were called the Twin Swords because of their ability to work well together. When they died, their daughter went unknown until paperwork began to resurface nearly 15 years later.

_-Prologue-_

Note: The past will be in Italics.

_The rain seemed to flood the area around them, everything was covered in a damp mask of sadness. It was growing dark outside and they knew their time had come. The two ninjas stood together, one with raven hair and the other with auburn. At least ten other ninjas from the Rain country surrounded the already tired pair. Yes, their time had finally reached its end. They knew it before the first move was made, this battle would be their last. _

_The pair in the middle was from Konoha, or at least that's where their home was. They were a legendary ninja duo, so to speak, and were on their way home after an incredibly long mission. They had been gone for nearly a year, leaving their baby girl in the hands of a trusted relative at the tender age of seven months. They had missed their child's first birthday, and now the poor girl would never know her parents. _

_These two ninjas had been worn out from the mission because of slowly healing injuries and were about to die to protect their home. The woman with the auburn hair cut through the immediate enemies ceaselessly as the raven-haired man went through the other direction. Five of the enemies attacking them were dead within the first five minutes. The Twin Swords of Konoha lived up to their name until the very end, slicing a path neatly and quickly._

_Both had already been marked red with blood, some of it their own and some the enemies. Still, they kept going until the threat had been eradicated. The woman manipulating things around her with her illusion and foresight, while the man cut through the enemy as they were dazed. They worked well together, just like they had been doing for so many years._

_In the end, they stopped as the last attacker fell down dead. The massacre lay in a perfect circle around them, one of the pair's trademarks. Still, due to fatigue, both retained fatal injuries. She had kunai buried into her side, puncturing deeply into her lungs and slowly filling them with blood. He had several deep cuts and various weapons in his limbs, limiting his mobility. Both would be long dead before help arrived._

_They knelt facing each other, both knowing they'd done their duty. Had the Twin Swords failed, the attackers would have proceeded to an already weak Konoha, thanks to the demon fox. The couple exchanged no words. They only took each other's hands and silently kissed, even as blood dripped from both of their lips. Then they embraced, and laid down slowly, allowing the wings of death to carry them away. 'Neko-chan…'The woman whispered on the wind to her child as she lay dying. 'Live…'_

Somewhere, a girl screamed.

_15 years later…. (Making Team 13 about 16 years old and the rookie 9 around 15)…._

"Tenten," A voice spoke harshly. "Tenten, wake up." She partially opened her eyes to see Hyuuga Neji staring back at her. The girl whimpered softly and threw her arms around his neck. Neji had gotten used to her having nightmares like this, but it still surprised him when she grabbed him like that. She had these nightmares every time they went on a long mission and she never remembered them, or having Neji comfort her, the next day.

"So many… There was so much blood…And bodies," She cried into his shoulder, and he patted her back calmly. It wasn't long before he felt her relax, and he knew Tenten had fallen back asleep. Neji calmly laid her back down and pulled the blanket up around her. He looked over to see Lee and Gai-sensei snoring away, they could sleep through anything, which left Neji to coax his teammate back to sleep after one of her nightmares. It had become a routine, but it was starting to worry him that she had actually screamed this time. Of course, being _the_ Hyuuga Neji, he didn't show that he was worried. And he couldn't very well just come out and say he was, he'd tried before but Tenten never remembered her nightmares.

"The sooner we get home the better," He muttered under his breath.

Meanwhile, in the office of the Hokage…

Tsunade let out a groan as she went through her paperwork. The Third had left quite a mess for her to clean up. Some of these papers were more than 30 years old! She went through the stack impatiently, until one label caught her eye.

"The Twin Swords of Konoha? I thought that was a legend…" Tsunade said to herself. She opened the folder carefully and saw the mission reports tons of them. Going through them curiously, she came upon two papers that didn't quite seem to fit. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was a birth certificate and a marriage certificate. As Tsunade noted the woman's maiden name and one of the witnesses to the wedding things started to fall into place.

Tsunade frantically searched for a folder she had just seen, and yelled for Shizune once she found it. The girl came running in, recognizing the tone in Tsunade's voice.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune said.

"I need Tenten…And Uchiha Sasuke," Tsunade said. "Bring Sasuke first, then get the girl."

A/N: Sorry for the short first chapter, but it didn't work right to cut it off anywhere else.


	2. Finding a Name

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto blah blah blah

**Chapter 2: Finding a Name**

"_I need Tenten…And Uchiha Sasuke," Tsunade said. "Bring Sasuke first, then get the girl."…_

Team 13's training area… 

Tenten was already winded, she had not been sleeping well and wasn't sure why. Her muscles screamed for rest but she wouldn't slow herself down. If she could keep going now, she would only grow stronger. Neji was sparring with her as usual, and he seemed to see how tired she was. Tenten could tell he was going easy on her, and that made her mad. So she decided to show him just how capable she really was.

Bringing up her katana, she charged at him. Neji brought up two kunai in each hand and blocked Tenten's attack. They remained that way for awhile, neither giving up. Then Tenten heard her name called. Without thinking, she relaxed her grip and turned to the source of the sound. As soon as she registered that it was Shizune, Tenten felt herself fall backwards onto the ground. With a grunt, she glared up at Neji, whose face appeared as emotionless as always.

"Tenten!" Shizune called out again as she reached the two of them. "Tsunade-sama needs you.

"What for?" Tenten asked, dusting herself off as she got up.

"I don't know, she didn't tell me," Shizune answered.

"Fine," Tenten said, and turned to her teammate. "I'll see you later Neji."

"Hn," Neji replied as the two left. He watched curiously for a moment before sitting down to meditate.

In Tsunade's Office…

Sasuke and Tsunade sat silently. He had no idea why he had been summoned, but before he could ask she finally said something.

"Have you ever heard of the 'Twin Swords of Konoha'?" Tsunade asked.

"I've heard some stories. Why?" He said impatiently.

"We have recently uncovered some information on the pair. As it turns out, their names were Uchiha Itoichi and Kaede." She watched closely as his eyes widened a little, but he was silent so that she could continue. "It turns out they were turned out of the Uchiha clan because he chose to pursue a different fighting style, and he married Kaede of the Neko clan. Apparently that was frowned on."

"The Uchihas could be strict, I know that, but what does this have to do with me?" Sasuke asked.

"They had a daughter, who was orphaned when they died on the way back from an S-rank mission. Right after their death, a baby girl was found with her Aunt. Her Aunt was a Neko who was killed before the two of them were discovered there. The girl is still alive. Until now, the stories had never been thought to be linked to each other. But evidence we've recently found suggests otherwise and that the girl is in fact an Uchiha."

"Wait, so Itachi and I aren't the only ones left?" Sasuke asked, eyes wide in shock. _'Well, he did say something about there being a third, didn't he?…' _He thought. But this was too much, and too sudden. It had been years since the incident, and that was a lot of time to spend thinking you were completely alone. He remembered throwing himself into his studies for the academy, he needed to become stronger so he could defeat Itachi. And it was easy to become overwhelmed by the work and the training. But now he was learning that he had gone through all of that alone, for nothing? All along he'd had family here, and he hadn't even known it. Many different emotions were swiling through his mind, but like always, he didn't show it.

"Yes, her name is Uchiha Neko. Named for both of her parent's clans," Tsunade paused as Shizune knocked and poked her head in.

"I have the girl, should I send her in?" Shizune wanted to know.

"One moment," Tsunade said and turned back to Sasuke. "Please go into the room on the right, she will be receiving quite a shock." Sasuke nodded and left the office. After he was gone, Tsunade nodded for Tenten to be brought in.

xxxxxxx

Tenten walked into the office calmly, and made quick note of the odd look on the Hokage's face. It was as if she had good news and bad news at the same time. When Tenten sat down, Tsunade began.

"Tenten, have you ever heard of the 'Twin Swords of Konoha'?" Tsunade was happy to see Tenten light up at this.

"Yes, they are a famous duo who protected the village. The two of them completed 55 S-rank missions together, and died keeping a group of shinobi from attacking right after the demon fox did," Tenten answered and Tsunade was pleased. 'At least she is a fan of them,' She thought.

"Did you ever learn their names?"

"Uchiha Itoichi and Kaede."

"How about their child?"

"…No, I didn't know that they'd had one," Tenten looked surprised. Tsunade sighed and continued.

"They had a daughter who was left in the care of Kaede's sister, Emura, on their last mission. Because Emura was from another village, no one ever realized she was actually related to the duo. So the child was taken into custody when they found Emura, after she had been killed for unknown reasons. The time the girl was found was used as her name," Tsunade paused, noting the girl's eyes widening at this as she recognized the story about how she was found, "Tenten."

"My…My parents were…" Tenten visibly paled and began to shake. Tsunade got up and came around her desk to comfort her, Tenten merely looked straight ahead with her eyes unfocused.

"Uchiha Itoichi and Kaede," Tsunade held out the birth certificate. "And your real name is Uchiha Neko." Tenten just stared at Tsunade, not ready to believe what she'd just heard.

"How could no one have figured this out until now?" Tenten looked upset and angry all at once.

"Because Itoichi had been shunned from the Uchiha clan it was harder to find the records. And Kaede was from another village. You and your Aunt Emura were in an apartment, but none of the neighbors seemed to know you. I'm sorry this had to come so late," Tsunade put a comforting hand on the Tenten's shoulder.

"And there's more. Your Neko clan side has proven to be stronger. This is evident by your use of chakra strings to control your weapons sometimes," Tsunade said. "Have you experienced any psychic tendencies, or déjà vu?"

"Ummm…" Tenten thought, and the dream of her parents death hit her. She remembered Neji asking her about her nightmares, and now it made sense. It was almost like her subconscious trying to maintain a connection to her parents through her dreams. "I think so. I've had nightmares of how they died…"

"I see," Was all that Tsunade said. "I want you to start meditating with Neji during training, it will help." Tenten nodded, it wouldn't be too hard to just try it. "And when you start seeing things before they happen, let's say Naruto knocking over a bowl of ramen a certain way and it really does happen within a day or two, come to me."

Again, Tenten nodded and Tsunade went to the door on the right side of the room. Tenten watched her beckon someone to come in and then go back to her desk. Then none other than Uchiha Sasuke came into the office and sat down in the chair next to Tenten's. She watched him closely, slowly realizing that he was actually her cousin.

"Sasuke, I believe you're acquainted with this girl. Your cousin, Uchiha Neko," Tsunade introduced them casually. The two turned to each other and stared slightly surprised, like they had needed the Hokage to actually say it for confirmation. Tsunade had to repress a laugh at this, as different as the two were they had the exact same look in their eyes.

Tsunade cleared her throat and the two looked up at her. "There's one last bit of business. You both know about the Uchiha massacre…" She trailed off at the hardened look in Sasuke's eyes but continued anyway. "I believe that to some degree any Uchiha is in danger. So, Tenten, I want you to move into the Uchiha manor with Sasuke."

"What? No way! I barely know him!" Tenten jumped out of her chair and Sasuke just grunted.

"Its this or you move in with a teammate, I thought family would be the better choice," Tsunade said calmly and Tenten fumed. She couldn't move in with Lee, she'd be pulling out her hair in no time. And as for Neji, that would just be…wrong. It looked like it was one anti-social or another, might as well make it family. Even if she'd only found out he was family five minutes ago.

"We've both been living alone this long, why do it now?" Sasuke finally spoke up.

"You are family, like it or not," Tsunade began, and the two glared at each other. Likewhen they looked at each other before, they had the same look in their eyes. "You need to start acting like it. And it's best if you start training together in addition to your regular training. Sasuke, she needs to know at least a few things about your clan." He grunted again and Tsunade sighed for the umpteenth time that day.

"You two may go now," Tsunade said and they both turned to leave. "And I expect Neko to be moved in by next week, I will be checking." Tenten was surprised to hear Tsunade call her 'Neko', but then again it was her real name.

The teens walked out in silence, even going part of the way to their houses together. Sasuke and Tenten had various thoughts going through their minds, and most of them had to do with Tenten's new identity. He couldn't believe that he wasn't alone anymore, and couldn't decide if he liked the thought or not. She finally had family, after being alone and unknown for so long. And for her parents to be legends, the Twin Swords of all people. It was like a piece of her had just dropped out of the sky and she was trying to figure out where it fit.

"So, Neko," Sasuke said, finally breaking the silence. "Let me know when you're packed. I'll help you move."

"Thank you, Sasuke," She said, surprised by the friendly gesture. "And my name is Tenten."

"It's not anymore," He said and disappeared in the direction of his house, which was soon to be their house.

xxxxx

**Author's Note:** Okay, so I read one fic where they were joking that Tenten could be an Uchiha. There was something about Itachi saying there were actually 3 of them left, and I got carried away with it. Even if he didn't actually say that, remember that this is fiction and bear with me please. And I'll keep calling Tenten by the name Tenten when writing to avoid confusion. She'll only be called Neko when someone uses it as her name, like Sasuke and Tsunade did. Oh, and please R&R!


	3. Moving On

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

The Twin Swords of Konoha: Chapter 3

Moving On

Tenten hadn't realized just how much she actually had until she had started packing. Already she had four boxes full of bedding, pictures, and a few other things she planned on taking with her. She also had her suitcase stuffed full of clothes. With a sigh, she sat down on her couch and looked over at the phone. _'Guess I should call now…'_ Tenten picked up the receiver and dialed the number for the Uchiha manor.

"Uchiha," Was the answer.

"Sasuke, this is Tenten. I'm done packing," She said.

"Hn," Was the reply, followed by silence.

"Um, you said you'd help me move?"

"So where's your apartment?" He asked and Tenten sweat-dropped. Of course he wouldn't know, he barely knew her. She gave him directions and they hung up, him on the way over.

Another point of view… 

"Wait a minute, is that who I think it is?" Sakura and Ino were walking and Sakura pointed to one of the apartments.

"No way," Ino replied as the two of them saw Sasuke enter an apartment. And not just any apartment, it was Tenten's. He had knocked and gone in without a word as Tenten opened the door with a smile. Ino and Sakura exchanged suspicious glances, then moved to watch from a less suspicious location. Tenten and Sasuke came out of the apartment with several boxes in each hand and Tenten had a large suitcase with her.

"It's like she's moving," Sakura commented. "But why is he helping her?"

"I don't know," Ino replied, and they moved to watch the scene unfold.

_Back to Sasuke and Tenten…_

They had walked to the manor in complete silence, something that suited both of them. Upon entering the compound, Tenten felt a chill go down her spine. It had several buildings within it, but they were all deserted except for the one Sasuke was leading her to. She had never been anywhere like this before, and it almost frightened her to be somewhere this empty. And to know why it was deserted gave her another cold feeling. Because a single person had slain them all and that person was Sasuke's brother. Her cousin. Tenten suddenly felt less comfortable with her new living arrangement.

As they entered the house, Tenten noted all of the dark colors. It somehow seemed to match Sasuke's constantly dark mood, but at the same time had a pristine elegance to it. They went past a few basic rooms, like the kitchen and a family room. She saw one bedroom and paused for a moment. It was empty and had a great view of the garden area outside.

"Could I have this one?" Tenten asked. Sasuke stopped but didn't turn around to look at her.

"No."

"Why not?"

"That was his room," Sasuke answered and continued walking. Tenten looked at the room once more, another chill settling in her bones. She finally turned away and caught up with her cousin.

xxx

It was getting dark outside, and Tenten went towards the kitchen for dinner. Sasuke said he usually ate whenever he started feeling hungry, so that left her to fend for herself. When she reached the kitchen, she saw that he had already started. He glanced up at her absent-mindedly as he stirred something on the stove.

"Do you like pork-fried-rice?" He asked.

"Yeah," She replied and he nodded for her to sit down at the small table in the middle of the room. They hadn't talked since Tenten was shown to her room, a relatively good-sized one on the other side of the house barely down the hall from Sasuke's. She had been surprised at the size of it, her whole apartment probably would fit inside her new bedroom.

It was odd for her to think of herself as Uchiha Neko now. Everything felt so new and different. She still barely had any family, although she did have Sasuke now. Even if she barely knew him, they were family and all they had. Knowing whom her parents were, was a whole other story. They were famous for one thing and strong for another. Was she disappointing them? Was she strong enough to be their daughter? Somehow, she knew she'd get an answer sooner or later.

Tenten was pulled out of her thoughts by the clank of a bowl being set down in front of her. Sasuke sat down with his own across from her silently, and started eating.

"T-Thanks," Tenten managed to smile.

"Don't smile if you don't mean it," He said.

"What?"

"I can tell you're hurting inside, somewhere. So don't smile when you don't mean it. Why be fake about how you feel?" Sasuke said plainly and took another bite of his rice. Tenten blinked in surprise, this was probably the most he'd ever said to her.

"Fine. It just seems to all be hitting me at once," She looked out the window over the sink. "First finding out who my parents are, then my real name, and now I've moved in with you. It seems so sudden."

"It is quick," He said between mouthfuls. "But, we're in this together and I'll be here for you." Tenten stared at him for a moment, wondering why he was being so nice to her. Sasuke glanced up and seemed to read her gaze. "We're family, that's what we do. Right?"

"Right," Tenten smiled again, honestly this time.

xxx

The next day… 

Neji was grumbling outside of Tenten's apartment, knowing that they would be late if she didn't come out soon. It had already been ten minutes, and there was no sign of the bun-headed girl yet. He leaned against a post outside, growing more impatient by the minute. She had told him to stop walking her to training, saying something about it being out of the way, but this was ridiculous. Was it her way of telling him to leave her alone? He looked down at his watch again, it had now been eleven minutes.

"Neji?" A female voice said from the other side of the street. He looked up but was disappointed to only see Ino. "What are you doing here?"

"Does it matter?" He said, already wanted Ino to go away. But the girl merely smirked at him, like she knew something he didn't.

"She's not going to come out," She said simply.

"What do you mean? Who said I was waiting for her?" Neji retorted, a little too quickly.

"You just did," Ino said and started walking away. "She moved yesterday, you should really listen more closely to your teammates." Neji blinked in surprise. Tenten had said something about him not coming by, maybe that was why. But why didn't she just straight out say she was moving? He sighed and went on to training, he would deal with Tenten later.

Tenten's point of view… 

Tenten arrived at training later than usual, seeing as her new house was farther away and she didn't know the way as well. When she got there, she saw Lee and Neji talking with their sensei nowhere in sight.

"What's this about you moving?" Neji asked with a scowl on his face.

"I moved in with my cousin, it was kind of sudden," Tenten shrugged. "You went by my apartment, didn't you?" Neji didn't answer, but the deepened scowl on his face told Tenten everything she needed to know.

"Did you hear?" Lee asked enthusiastically. "There's a third Uchiha! Her name is Uchiha Neko!" Tenten smiled at this, they had no idea they were actually talking to Neko did they?

"Yes I know," Tenten answered. "Just yesterday I found out that-"

"It's so interesting! I wonder who it is?" Lee cut her off, his youthful excitement blinding him. Neji on the other hand gave her an odd look.

"Lee?" Tenten said loudly and Lee finally focused on her. "I'm Uchiha Neko."

"What!" Lee exclaimed happily. "My Tenten! You're an Uchiha! You have a clan, at last!" With that, Lee jumped on her and crushed her in a bear hug. Neji smirked at the pain she appeared to be in, both of them were well aware of how Lee could overdo it when showing how he felt. Lee finally let her go and then decided to run off and tell Gai-sensei about this.

"Uchiha, huh?" Neji said and Tenten raised an eyebrow at him. There was something odd about his tone. But he said nothing more and went over to sit under the trees and meditate.

"Wait, Neji?" Tenten said and he looked at her with an annoyed look on his face.

"Can I meditate with you? Tsunade-sama told me I needed to start," Tenten asked him and he nodded, indicating that she sit next to him under the tree. Tenten smiled and they both began.

She had never meditated before, but remembered being told that to do so you needed to place an object on a background of a white square with a black border. Tenten couldn't think of what she should visualize, so she just pictured a kunai. It wasn't long before the picture started to fade and she saw the scene from her dream again. This time it was different. She wasn't just watching it, she was in it. She was in the dream as Uchiha Kaede, and felt every blow like she was the one doing it.

Tenten panicked, she knew what was happening but couldn't do anything to stop it. So instead, she attacked like she remembered Kaede doing in the dream. It worked for awhile, until one of the kunai that eventually killed the woman hit her. It was unlike any pain she had ever felt before in her life, but the body she was in kept going. Tenten was freaking out, she didn't know how to escape this. _'Somebody, help me!'_ She thought desperately but knew no one could hear her. Then she felt her shoulders being shaken, and it wasn't coming from the world of her dream.

"Neko-chan!" Someone yelled and she snapped her eyes open, gasping as she did so. Blindly clawing at her side, she felt that there were no kunai there. She was safe, and uninjured. Tenten let out a sigh and sank back panting.

"Neko, say something," Tenten opened her eyes to see both Neji and Sasuke staring at her. She was lying on the ground under the tree they had been meditating under.

"Sasuke, how'd you get here?" She asked in surprise.

"I ran when I knew you were in trouble," Sasuke answered. Tenten raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing else.

"What happened? You've been out for two hours," Neji wanted to know.

"Two hours!" Tenten said in disbelief. Neji nodded and Sasuke merely stared with a concerned look on his face. "I..I don't know…I saw…"

"How the Twin Swords died," Sasuke finished. Tenten nodded and Neji looked back and forth between the two.

"How did you know that?" Neji finally asked Sasuke.

"I'm not sure…Its like I felt it…" Sasuke answered and looked back at Tenten. "Neko-chan, I think we should go see Tsunade about this."

"I agree," Tenten stood up and they started to leave.

"Tenten," Neji called out in annoyance.

"My name," Tenten had turned to glare at him, "is Uchiha Neko. And I'm sorry Neji but I've really got to go."

And with that, the two Uchihas left Neji alone in the clearing.


	4. Finding Out

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. Or Tenten. Or Sasuke. But I made up Kaede and Itoichi so they're all mine, even if no one else is! Ha!

xxx

It wasn't long before the Uchiha cousins were sitting down in Tsunade's office, both wanting to just get this over with. Tsunade came in after they had arrived, sweat-dropping when she saw the look on their faces. This was not going to be good news, and all of them knew it.

"When I was meditating today, I saw how the Twin Swords died. It was like my dream from before, except I was in Kaede's body and felt everything she felt," Tenten said before Tsunade could ask.

"Are you serious?" Tsunade's eyes widened. She couldn't believe this was happening so soon, and things were falling together all too well.

"When she came back, she was clutching her side and panting like she'd really taken a hit," Sasuke added.

"Oh no…" Tsunade sat down in her chair. Tenten glanced over at Sasuke nervously, but he sat there as impassive as ever. "This wasn't supposed to happen yet. You're far too young."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tenten asked, her voice mixed with misunderstanding and annoyance.

"Most members of the Neko clan don't 'feel' their visions until they've had the sight for several years. And you get it the first time you meditate. This is going to get complicated," Tsunade said but was lost in thought. Kaede had been precisely Tenten's age when she got the feeling from her sight. Curiously, Tsunade turned to Sasuke. "How did you know she had the vision?"

"I don't know…It's like I felt it," He answered. Tsunade nodded and the room fell into silence as she began to think.

"Alright, here's what we will do," Tsunade finally said. "Tenten, next time you meditate, I want you to picture a different background. If you used two colors, next time just use the middle color. You'll be able to touch your sight but nothing will happen this way. And the two of you need to train together more and with your team a little less. Leave your teams an hour early and finish together." The two nodded and rose to leave. Tsunade excused them and turned around in her chair, her head in her hands. _'Why now? This is all too sudden…'_ She thought.

_An hour later, at the Uchiha manor…_

Tenten and Sasuke had decided against sparring for the day, since they had already had one close call. Instead they took to each working on their particular styles. As Tenten rested from target practice and sat polishing one of her beloved weapons, she couldn't help but notice Sasuke working on hitting targets with kunai. She cringed, his stance was off and his grip on the weapons was poor. She watched him throw, and he was close but too many minor things were causing him problems. Before long, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop," She said sternly and rose from where she sat. He looked at herin annoyancebut didn't say anything considering she was better armed at the moment. "You're doing it all wrong, it'sa wonder how you can even come close." She took his hands and repositioned the kunai for better accuracy. While she was at it, Tenten made him shift his footing. With a grunt, he tried things her way. Naturally everything hit its target perfectly. Tenten smiled at him knowingly, and went back to her side to work with her own weapons.

He watched her out of the side of his eye for awhile. He'd never paid her that much attention before, but now that they were living together he was starting to see her in a new light. Tenten was strong, he'd overlooked that before. And she'd even corrected him, _the_ Uchiha Sasuke. A part of him wondered how Neji could take having someone as critical as her for a teammate. Instead of talking, Sasuke turned his attention back to his training. He would have time to think about this later.

There was a knock at the main door, and Tenten hopped up to answer it. Sasuke paid it no heed, she was closer and it was her house too now. Tenten scrambled towards the door, and pulled it open only to see Naruto standing there.

"Sasuke-teme! How dare you leave us-" Naruto started yelling but then seemed to realize that it was actually Tenten standing there, not Sasuke. "Hey…What are you doing here?"

"I live here now," Tenten answered, watching the blonde boy's jaw drop. People really needed to work on the spreading of rumors in this town. She sighed Naruto just stood there, trying to understand the situation. "Do you want to talk to Sasuke?" Tenten finally asked and Naruto nodded slowly as he followed her in.

_Another point of view…_

"What! She's living with him? As in, permanently? Why would he let her move in with him?" Ino watched the scene where Naruto rang the Uchiha's doorbell and Tenten answered. She had heard Tenten admit to living there, very clearly in fact.

Ino turned and ran to Sakura's house to tell her about her discovery. When the pink-haired girl had finally answered the door and heard the story, they decided to try and find out everything they could about the situation.

"Why don't I just ask Naruto tomorrow? He'll tell me anything," Sakura said.

"No, that idiot won't know anything good. we have to do some real research," Ino replied, a wicked grin creeping across her face.

"We're not going to end up stuck in a closet again, are we?" Sakura groaned, remembering the last time she'd gone along with one of Ino's notorious plans.

"Maybe later, I have a better idea for right now," Ino squealed, grabbing Sakura and running out of the house.

_Back to Tenten and Sasuke…_

"So she's really living here?" Naruto had seemed to forget why he'd come the second Tenten opened the door and now needed a lot of clarification.

"Yes, I'm really living here. Is there a point to this?" Tenten rolled her eyes. She could deal with Lee, but explaining things to this guy twelve times a day was irritating.

"Sorry, I just came because I wanted to know why Sasuke left training so suddenly," Naruto smiled apologetically. He couldn't figure out why it seemed so unnatural to have Tenten in Sasuke's house, but for some reason it had gotten to him. Over time, Naruto had come to think of Sasuke as the type who preferred to fight alone. But now he had a girl living in his house. It just seemed odd.

"My cousin needed me," Sasuke said simply, gesturing at Tenten slightly. Naruto raised an eyebrow curiously and looked back and forth between the two. Tenten shared a look with Sasuke, they both knew what the dobe was about to say.

"Wait a minute, so Tenten is that Uchiha Neko I heard somebody talking about?" Naruto asked, putting the question more intelligently than the other two had expected him to.

"Yes, I'm Uchiha Neko," Tenten answered matter-of-factly.

"Can you do any of that bloodline stuff, like sharingan?" Naruto asked and there was a bit of silence.

"We…Don't really know yet, it's looking like I'm more like my Mother," Tenten said sheepishly. It felt weird to talk about it that way. Could she have sharingan? It didn't seem very likely to her. Sasuke just got up and left the room without a word, the other two were left just staring at where he'd gone.

"What was that about?" Naruto wondered out loud.

"He just does that sometimes, he's not very social. I think he's out of practice," Tenten said, and Naruto looked at her oddly.

"How long have you been living here?" He asked.

"Umm…This is actually only my second night," She said, a little surprised at the number herself.

"I should go, but I might drop in a little more often now that it's not just Sasuke-teme here," Naruto started for the door as Tenten smiled at his joke. "See ya later, Tenten."

"It's Neko now," She corrected him but he just smiled back at her.

"I haven't known you that long, so I'll try but I'm still going to think Tenten whenever I see you," Naruto said plainly and left the manor. Tenten shrugged, if one person was going to call her Tenten it just made the transition a little bit easier.

As she went back towards the center of the house, she saw Sasuke emerge and push a pile of clothes into her arms. Tenten glared at him but he returned it emotionlessly. Tenten was glad she's had to deal with Neji for all this time, it made living with an ice cube a little more bearable.

"I can get my own laundry, thank you," Tenten said sternly.

"That's not what this is. Some of these were my Mother's, some were my Aunt's and so on," He grabbed the shirt on top and held it up for her to see better. It was a dark green top that had ¾ sleeves and a round neck, there were gold patterns around the hem of the sleeves and the main shirt and on the back it had the Uchiha crest. Sasuke pointed to the crest as he continued, "Since you're an Uchiha, you might as well look like it. If there's so few of us we should at least show some unity. Tomorrow I want to show you something else."

Tenten looked down at the clothes in her hands. They all had the crest on the back, and looked to be exactly her size. When she looked up again, Sasuke had already disappeared down the hall without another word to her.

_Another point of view…_

Ino rang the doorbell as she and Sakura waited on the porch of a big house. They were standing outside of the Hyuuga manor, and Ino's plan was about to unfold. The door opened to reveal a very nervous looking Hinata, who seemed to be expecting the girls to pounce on her at any given moment. Sakura was relieved it hadn't been a complete stranger to answer the door but Ino acted like it was still someone they didn't know.

"Where's Neji? We need to talk to him now!" Ino demanded.

"H-He's not h-here r-right n-now," Hinata stuttered badly, no thanks to Ino's evil grin.

"Well, where is he?" She raised an eyebrow at the timid girl and Sakura rolled her eyes. This was getting ridiculous. So what if Tenten was living with Sasuke? It's not like_… 'Wait a minute, what could they be doing right now?'_ Inner Sakura pointed out and that got Sakura going.

"We need to talk to him!" Sakura added enthusiastically.

"H-He's o-out s-somewhere… I-I t-think he said I-Ichiraku's f-for r-ramen," Hinata's eyes widened as the girls got more intense.

"Ha! We'll find him!" Ino jumped with a fist in the air, and ran towards the restaurant.

"Thanks for helping," Sakura managed to say to Hinata before joining Ino as they ran like lunatics.

_ 'I have a bad feeling about this…'_ Hinata thought and closed the door.

As the two girls arrived at Ichiraku's they were just in time to see Naruto enter the restaurant ahead of them. He had come from the general direction of the Uchiha Manor, and Sakura knew the look on his face. It was one he only got after trying to deal with Sasuke. Sakura leaned over to Ino and hissed at her, "New plan, I have an idea…"

Neji was sitting there, poking at his ramen. He wasn't really all that hungry, but he liked to come into the restaurant to watch people out of the corner of his eye. For some reason it helped him think if he had been confused by something. And this time, as it was most of the time, it was either Tenten or training and this time was an odd combination of both. She had been meditating with him just fine one minute, then she was yelling the next, and then Sasuke had shown up. It was all too complicated. He could almost understand feeling a relative's pain…Okay, so he really couldn't. It just had seemed like there was a strange connection there. He had thought he was the only man Tenten had really been able to connect with, but he had been wrong.

"Hey Neji," Ino leaned against his table, smiling as sweetly as she could. He glared at her, a look that would have sent an ordinary person running. Then again, Ino was no ordinary person. And this time she was on a mission.

"What?" Neji turned back to his bowl, making a point to eat some to show that he wasn't just sitting there thinking.

"Did you catch up with Tenten about her moving?" Ino asked, moving ever so slightly closer to the prodigy.

"Yes, what does it matter to you?" He didn't even look at her.

"Oh nothing, I just happened to see that she'd moved in with Sasuke-kun," She said and it had the desired effect. A normal person wouldn't have seen Neji's eyebrow flinch, but then again Ino was no normal person.

Meanwhile, Sakura had gone over to Naruto and was able to get him to talk without much effort. He had seemed ready to talk from the moment she'd shown up.

"I showed up and she opened the door, it was weird," Naruto was saying between mouthfuls of ramen. "And she was looking at me like it was weird that I was there! Can you believe that?"

"Well, it's not everyday that you go to visit Sasuke, you are supposed to be rivals," Sakura said.

"Whatever," Naruto rolled his eyes. "And I guess she's family so she has to live there-"

"Wait a minute, Tenten's what?" Sakura's jaw dropped open. On the other side of the restaurant, Ino was having much the same reaction.

"I said 'She's family, why not move in with him?'" Neji repeated himself and looked at Ino with a frown. "Are you okay?"

"She-She c-can't be! Sasuke has no family!" Ino was getting paler by the minute.

"Well he does now, if you'll excuse me," Neji paid for his ramen and left the restaurant. Ino sat down in his chair, catching her breath as the realization hit her. Sakura came up to her, smiling for no apparent reason.

"I know why Tenten's living there," Sakura said.

"She's Sasuke's cousin," Ino said for her.

"Oh, so Neji knows too," Sakura shrugged. "It could be worse. He might learn some social skills and he won't have to rebuild his clan alone now."

"True," Ino said but looked at Sakura sadly. "But now he definitely won't be as desperate to…"


	5. Behind These Eyes

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

A/N: I lost a lot of files last week because of a problem with my disks. All of my fics are gone, so I'm re-writing everything that had already been done. It could take awhile to update now.

Chapter 5: Behind These Eyes

xxx

Tenten woke up with a wide yawn and staggered into the bathroom to try and wake herself up. Her hair spilled in front of her face limply and she regarded her reflection curiously. Which one did she look like? She raised her bangs slightly and studied her eyes. The color, if anything, was from her mother. She knew that, since Sasuke's were so dark while her eyes had a golden hue to them. Tenten let her hair fall around her face again, dimly reminded of the way Sasuke's fell around his face. 'Guess we are related,' She thought and put on the clothes she'd set out the night before.

It would be the first time she'd worn her clan symbol.

Tenten liked how the green shirt he'd shown her the night before fit her. It was comfortable and felt like it would be good for training. At the same time it still had a simple elegance to it. Something about this morning made her feel different. Maybe her newly learned family history was finally sinking in, but she decided against putting her hair in buns today. Instead, she did it in two French braids.

Sasuke wasn't up when Tenten got to the kitchen, so she just started breakfast. She frowned at the lack of food in the cupboards and made a mental note that she'd have to go shopping. When the dark haired boy finally stumbled in, she raised an eyebrow at the dark circles under his eyes. Seriously, he was not a morning person today. He sat down rubbing his eyes and she handed him some eggs.

He stared at her in surprise. Tenten frowned at him, wondering if he'd taken a hit to the head the day before. She tried to ignore it as she sat down across from him, but the feeling wouldn't go away. Finally, she glared at him and he seemed startled by the move.

"H-How d-did y-you…" Sasuke stuttered, a very uncharacteristic thing for him.

"Sasuke?" She asked quizzically. He leaned forward, still staring at her, and slowly-

-His head fell into the plate of eggs. Great. So he'd basically been asleep the whole time. Tenten groaned and went over to her cousin, picking him up with surprising ease, and carrying him into his room. She tucked him into the covers and left quietly, wishing she had a camera. It would be fun to show the world how _the_ Uchiha Sasuke had collapsed into his breakfast.

Tenten went back to the kitchen and ate her own breakfast. She eyed his plate coolly and debated what to do. She could just eat. Or just throw it away. She sighed. Tenten didn't remember having family, but she could imagine that they would do things like this for each other. She took his plate and covered it so that it would be okay in the fridge. She left out a note telling him where it was and how to re-heat it. With that, she gathered her weapons and scrolls and went to training.

At the training area… 

"So she really is an Uchiha?" Gai asked enthusiastically. Neji rolled his eyes as Gai and Lee debated how Tenten actually was an Uchiha. Looks, some parts of her style, and they just went on…

_'I don't like this…Where the hell is she?…'_ Neji wondered, wishing he at least had someone to share this annoyance with. This whole Uchiha business…There was something about it he just didn't like. And he couldn't even tell anyone about it. Why not? He would normally tell Tenten, and he couldn't this time because it was about her. Things seemed so complicated when it came to her.

There was a loud sneeze from the edge of the clearing and the three men looked up to see Tenten. She was standing there wiping her nose and watching them.

_'Why are they looking at me like that…?'_ She wondered. Lee and Gai seemed way too happy about something, probably her newly discovered bloodline, and Neji just seemed…hurt? The she slowly realized it: different clothes, and different hair.

"Ah my young Uchiha!" Gai finally said, running up and giving her a bear hug with strength rivaling Lee's.

"Gai-sensei, stop, she can't breathe," Neji pointed out and their teacher let her go. She smiled thankfully at Neji and he nodded back.

"Alright so let's train like usual-" Gai started.

"I want to spar with Tenten today!" Lee shouted, surprising the other three. They all blinked at him in surprise, but complied. Lee jumped for joy as they took their positions.

"How is this going to turn out?" Neji asked quietly. Gai shrugged his shoulders but smiled happily as they began.

Tenten pulled out a few weapons first thing. She knew how strong Lee could be when he gave it his all. He came at her as a blur and she felt blows landing all over her. She dimly wondered when he'd gotten that fast, and silently answered herself. When she'd been sparring with Neji he was improving. Tenten lashed out with a katana and heard the satisfying slash of blade on flesh.

Lee leapt back, just out of the girl's range, to assess the wound. She wasn't called the weapons master for nothing, it was a good cut. She took a few cautious steps forward and launched kunai at him. He laughed and easily dodged them. Then they popped out of existence.

_'Uh-oh'_ was all he had time to think as the real kunai hit him perfectly, one in each limb. He winced and pulled each of them out. Tenten already had five shuriken in each hand and was smirking. Lee raised an eyebrow at her. He had the advantage right now, she was close enough that he could do some serious damage within seconds, and she seemed happy. Then she disappeared. Lee rolled his eyes. When he pulled out the kunai, she'd moved closer to be able to jump into the brush overhead. He immediately started to dodge the barrage of weapons now raining down on him.

"Lee, you have to go at her like you mean to kill her, it's the only way," Gai shouted. "And it's the same for you, Neko." Neji unconsciously shuddered at the thought. Both Lee and Tenten were too sweet, he couldn't see either of them having the intent to kill the other.

Tenten finally dropped down from the trees, as Lee had come up and found her, then darted out into the clearing. She launched weapons as she went, Lee following her into the clearing. Lee stood tall, bleeding from various cuts but fine anyway. Tenten smirked again and he went on guard. He expected her to disappear, but she just moved her hand.

_'Why would she-'_ He thought before -THUNK!- He was flat on his back on the ground. Tenten used chakra strings to control her weapons, and some of them were able to trip Lee as they were attached to the various weapons around him. Lee cursed his stupidity as he tried to get up and heard Neji's stifled laughter. He finally decided to heed Gai-sensei's advice- he had to come at her like he was going to kill her.

Tenten noted the change in the look in his eyes and held a katana in each hand, ready to strike at him when he came near. Before she knew it, he had grabbed some of her weapons and come at her in a blur. She didn't know she was hit until she fell over, coughing up blood. He bounded away, looking guilty for what he'd done.

"Nice one, Lee," Tenten said, and pulled herself up. "But I'm not done yet…"

Neji had been trying to meditate on the sidelines, but the fight was just getting to interesting. He'd seen Tenten bounce back from countless hits of his gentle fist, but this was unique. The cuts were very deep, and not in a good place. She could easily be healed, but fighting would be rough. Yet she was still going on.

Maybe it had something to do with that Uchiha blood.

"I'm sorry, Neko-chan," Lee said, she nodded back. And then he came at her once more, not realizing the ace he'd just handed her.

A violent thud made both Neji and Gai expect to see Tenten crumpled on the ground, clutching at her bleeding stomach. Instead, they saw Lee slumped over trying to stay conscious. Neji stared in shock, and his eyes wandered up from the boy to Tenten's eyes. They were now crimson with Sharingan.

They were all speechless as Lee fell to the ground, deeply affected by having his own speed duplicated by another person. It seemed like an eternity before Tenten too went to her knees, coughing up more blood. She squeezed her eyes shut and breathed deeply. When she opened them her eyes were normal again.

Wordlessly, Neji and Gai approached. Gai scooped up Lee and began to carry him towards the hospital. Neji knelt next the Tenten, her eyes still on the spot where Lee had been. Neji reached out and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. It seemed to snap her back to reality.

"Is he…Is he going to be okay?" She asked.

"He'll be fine, it was just a good hit on a pressure point," Neji answered. "Can you walk?"

Tenten started to get up, testing her legs and strength. A cough of blood nearly sent her back down, but Neji caught her. She smiled her thanks to him as he snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her arm around his neck. They walked slowly in the direction of the hospital, Neji half carrying the now very weak girl.

By the time he got there, she was asleep and in his arms. Tsunade frowned at her condition but took her in and had Shizune treat both her and Lee. They weren't in bad shape, just tired. Neji stayed in their room as they slept it off, not willing to leave when they were both in there. It had grown dark by the time another visitor came by.

Sasuke came in quietly holding something limply in his hand as he looked at Tenten's sleeping form. He had realized that this morning wasn't a dream when he got her note, and eggs. When he'd first seen her he had thought she was his Mother.

"Good evening, Sasuke," Neji greeted emotionlessly. Sasuke nodded in his general direction. "Surprised you didn't come sooner."

"I don't know, but it's like… I knew she was in good hands…" Sasuke trailed off, wondering why he told Neji that. Sasuke followed it with a serious look, then dropped the tiny bundle of flowers he'd been holding. "Tell her thanks for breakfast."

"Will do," Neji affirmed as Sasuke was at the door. "Oh and Sasuke?"

He stopped, waiting for Neji to continue. Neji glared at his back for a moment before going on. "She has sharingan."

"I see," Sasuke said. "Thanks."

xxx

Tenten woke up to the soft beeping of a heart monitor and realized she must be in a hospital. The poster on the wall saying "Better Luck Next Time" told her she was in the training injury wing of the hospital. She sat up slowly, barely feeling any sort of pain from the cuts Lee had given her. In the bed to her right she saw Lee sleeping peacefully. Tenten grinned; he would be just fine.

"You're awake," She was surprised to hear Neji's voice. She looked over at him and studied his features. Unreadable, as always.

"Yeah," She looked around. Lee had two bouquets of green flowers and a lily on his beside table. So Gai, Sakura, and someone else had come around. She glanced over at her own and saw three as well. One was daffodils, one was green like Lee's and one was a white rose.

"Who are these from?" She asked reaching for the rose first. Neji cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"The daffodils are from Sasuke," Neji started. "And he said thanks for breakfast." Tenten smiled slightly at the thought of Sasuke having Neji tell her that.

"I like this one," She smelled the rose. "It smells really good."

"That one is from me…" Neji said quietly. Tenten looked a little surprised but then smiled at him.

"Thank you," She said and he nodded. Lee stirred in the bed next to her, and they watched him as he woke up. He stared back and forth between them.

"Geez Tenten, you hit hard," Lee grinned playfully.

"No harder than you do," Tenten said, fingering her side gently. They joked around for the rest of the day. Well, Lee and Tenten did, Neji just kind of sat there and laughed occasionally. Though he did note that Tenten never put down his rose.


	6. A New Sharingan

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

**A/N:** Okay so I've been having about three times the normal bugs in my file system. When I save something one way it gets corrupted for some reason, so updates will be slow. Oddly enough, my new stories are fine. Bear with me please…

_Chapter 6: A New Sharingan_

Tenten and Lee were released from the hospital almost immediately. And almost as quickly Lee decided to challenge Neji to a spar. It was almost like the guy missed the hospital room they were in. Tenten had to leave the boys to argue about whether or not Lee was in shape to spar, as she expected Sasuke would be waiting up for her. It was strange how he almost seemed like a parental figure at times. She came in with all of her flowers in one hand and saw him waiting for her in the living room.

"About time, Neko-nee-chan," Sasuke greeted with a smirk. Tenten grinned at the 'nii-chan', mentally noting that it was the first time he'd used it.

"Thanks for the daffodils," She smiled back. He found it hard to believe but her smiles seemed more honest lately.

"Sure," He said. "So how'd you beat Lee? Sharingan?" He asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah," She raised an eyebrow. "You could've warned me about that."

"That's not how you learn it. If you expect sharingan you'll only be disappointed," Sasuke came closer and Tenten looked at him suspiciously. "Show me your sharingan."

Tenten obliged and he carefully surveyed her eyes. She had two tomoe in each eye and he scowled inwardly. He had only started with two in one eye and one in the other. Then again, he had been much younger. He nodded for her to deactivate it and she watched him once more with brown eyes.

"So, how do I use it?" She asked.

"Well, basically, you just need to watch any moves you want to duplicate. I'd recommend only doing it when absolutely needed. It eats up your chakra," He explained. Tenten nodded idly, seeming to think things over.

"That's fine, but two more things," She looked at him for confirmation before continuing. "Do you think Kakashi could help me with it some more?" Sasuke nodded and she went on. "And since this is to mimic… Could you show me those fire techniques again?"

"Now you're thinking like an Uchiha," Sasuke grinned at her and beckoned for her to follow him to the pond where he'd originally shown her.

_The next day…_

Tenten arrived at the training area early, wearing a pair of black capris and a dark pink tank top with the Uchiha crest on the back. Neji was surprised to see her looking so happy as he arrived. It dully reminded him of Lee on a day long ago, one where Lee had very nearly knocked him out.

"Morning, Neko," He greeted and she smiled even more.

"I have something to show you, want to spar?" She sounded like she had another ace up her sleeve and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Maybe later, don't you need more practice with those eyes first?" He questioned.

"Nah, Sasuke helped me out a lot yesterday. I've already got a few techniques down," She said. "And there's one more I plan on learning."

"What's that?" Neji wondered.

"You'll see one of these days," She looked confident. He felt like he was finally seeing some of the old Tenten showing through after all this 'third Uchiha' business.

"Fine let's go," Neji said and they both took a defensive pose.

_About 30 minutes later…_

Gai approached his team's area slowly, expecting them all to be late after yesterday's occurrence. To his surprise, they were all actually there already. He saw Lee crouched in a bush, watching the clearing with interest.

"Lee, what are you-"

"Not now, sensei!" Lee abruptly pulled down Gai and made him watch through the bushes with him. "They are sparring and will likely stop if we enter. I want to see how she does against him now."

"Alright," Gai watched, noticing that Tenten had gained speed since the day before.

"He doesn't fall for that chakra string trip like I did," Lee pointed out as Neji skillfully avoided the strings attached to her weapons.

"It took him a lot of practice," Gai remembered how often Neji would get mad at Tenten for tripping him. His focus was back on the spar when Tenten began launching an arsenal of weapons at Neji and he went into the kaiten. Little did he know she'd been waiting for this.

Neji stopped spinning and suddenly saw a bright light coming from Tenten's direction.

"Oh sh-" Neji never finished as Tenten's fire technique blew past him. Gai and Lee gasped at this tactic and leaned into the bush to see how Neji had faired. There was thin column of smoke from where he had been standing and no one could really see what had happened.

"Neji?" Tenten sounded worried and stepped closer.

_-Behind you-_

Tenten somehow instinctively knew to whip around with a kunai in her hand and block the spot where her neck had been. A very surprised Neji was pushed back and had to dodge an attack from her. He glared at her and scooped up a katana to defend himself. Tenten managed to aim a few shuriken expertly, keeping him from escaping…

… Until he used another replacement technique. She resisted the urge to sigh in frustration and began to look for him.

_-Watch out below, left ankle-_

She jumped up and fired a scythe at the spot, seeing it skim Neji and leave a small trail of blood in its wake. He looked shocked and annoyed and she took the time to make a final move. Tenten threw several kunai and shuriken at him and while he tried to dodge them she used a move of Lee's. She appeared behind him and pinned him to the ground. Expertly twisting an arm behind his back and pinning the other with her knee, she put a kunai to his neck.

"Got you this time," She said proudly.

"That fire technique," He smirked. "Guess Sasuke does show you something worthwhile."

"Not really," She said with a laugh and got off of Neji. He rolled over onto his back and propped himself up. She offered him a hadn up but he refused.

"What?" She was offended.

"Not done down here yet," Neji reached into his pocket and pulled out the tub of ointment that he always had to heal injuries with. Then he pulled back some of the bandages on his right arm, revealing several burns.

"Oh Neji…" Tenten went down on her knees and looked over the damage. He watched her face curiously, finding her worried expression amusing.

"This isn't any worse than the cuts you usually give me," He began to apply ointment.

"No, let me," She grabbed it away from him and began to gently apply it. Neji relaxed and allowed her to spread it over the burns. Gai and Lee chose this time to casually walk into the clearing like they hadn't seen anything. Tenten wrapped his arm and then they both got up, looking at their teammates expecting some response.

"What gave you that burn, Neji?" Lee asked, not very convincingly.

"Don't' try it, I saw both of you," Neji replied.

"Oh yeah…Sorry," Lee sweat-dropped.

"So my youthful students-" Gai sensei started but Tenten interrupted him.

"Sensei, I need to see Tsunade," She said calmly. All three of the men looked at her in surprise, like she had just announced that she hated having her hair in buns.

"Why?" Neji was the only one able to respond.

"Tsunade told me to when I began to foresee things, and I did both times you tried to come up behind me," Tenten told him clearly.

"I see. Go ahead Neko-chan," Gai looked disappointed but understood at the same time. Neji watched her leave sadly, once again feeling like he was somehow losing his teammate.

'_Sasuke-kun, are you going to know to be there again?'_ She wondered as she left the clearing.

_At the Hokage's Office…_

"Tsunade-sama," Shizune poked her head in and the Hokage looked up idly. "It's the Uchihas here to see you again."

"Let them in," Tsunade rolled her eyes. Tenten and Sasuke walked in and sat in their usual chairs, waiting for Tsunade to ask the usual question. "So what this time?" The Hokage asked.

"I was sparring with Neji and I suddenly was able to know exactly what he was about to do," Tenten said plainly. "It was like a voice telling me."

"I knew this would happen," Tsunade seemed to pause to think for a moment. "It appears that you're developing both of your bloodlines rapidly now that you've passed puberty and are maturing. The Neko clan was similar to the Uchiha in the sense that they could predict an enemy's moves to a degree, but since you have both it may be even easier for you to read someone's acts."

"How did the Neko clan read attacks?" Sasuke asked.

"They were known for having a psychic ability passed down their family line, supposedly given to them by a cat god thus the name 'Neko'. It's a basic gift of foresight, unfortunately no one really understands it anymore," Tsunade looked sad. "Just out of curiosity, Neko, did you beat Neji?"

"Yes, for the first time," Tenten smiled.

"And Sasuke, how did you come here? Did she come and get you?" Tsunade asked.

"Well, no. It's just like I knew. Same with the hospital the other night, or when she had that hallucination," He said, sounding intelligent despite how vague it was.

"Here's what I think may be happening," Tsunade sighed. "Most members of the Neko clan develop a deep bond with another ninja. In most cases this other ninja becomes their standard partner. There's no real reason behind how they are selected, but it seems that the two of you have become partners."

"That doesn't mean we have to leave our teams, does it?" Tenten sounded concerned. Sasuke seemed to feel the same way.

"No, you just need to spend more time training together. I'll speak to Kakashi and Gai about doing joint training sessions. It won't be long before it seems natural," She assured them. "And Neko, you will surely become a force to be reckoned with."

Tenten grinned at the compliment and Sasuke watched the two like they were a mildly interesting TV program. Tsunade explained to Tenten how to meditate in a way that would allow her to improve her skills in the Neko tradition and then they were excused. Sasuke and Tenten walked out of the office in silence, seeming to head in the general direction of the Uchiha complex.

'_So if we're partners, do I do all of my missions with him?'_ Tenten thought.

'_This can't mean no more missions with Sakura and Naruto. He'll get them both killed if I'm not there,'_ Sasuke thought bitterly.

"Hey Tenten, hey Sasuke!" None other than Naruto happened to see them on their way home and waved happily. Tenten waved back, barely realizing he'd called her by her old name, as Sasuke smirked at his friend. "Want to get some ramen with me? You can't eat in every night."

"Naruto, we don't need-" Sasuke started.

"We're coming," Tenten elbowed Sasuke roughly. "You need to get out more."

The two energetic ones did all but drag the reluctant Sasuke into the Ichiraku and ordered ramen from the main counter. Sasuke managed to take his bowl and shrink back to a table where he could eat alone and watch Tenten and Naruto eat energetically. From time to time one or the other would burst out laughing, apparently at the various stories of their missions.

"Sure looks like they're having a good time," A voice said and Sasuke looked up to see Neji standing there.

"Yeah, who knew they'd become friends so fast," Sasuke couldn't help but smile. There she was with his best friend, and here he was with her best friend.

"Guess it works out. Can I join you?" Neji asked and Sasuke nodded idly, toying with a noodle in his bowl. By now Tenten and Naruto had engaged in a full fledged eating contest, taunting each other with noodles hanging from their lips.

"You should come by sometime, I think she gets lonely," Sasuke said randomly.

"Really?"

"Well it doesn't take much, it's a big empty house," Sasuke put emphasis on the word big.

"I didn't think she'd care that much," Neji ate some of his ramen slowly. "She never really mentioned it before, or lately."

"Has she had a chance lately?" Sasuke looked at Neji pointedly. "And does she strike you as the type to open up right away?"

"Hn," Was Neji's response, which would confuse anyone else but Sasuke knew it had meant he won. They ate in silence, the details of their friend's conversation blocked out by the noise of other's in the restaurant.

"If you can't finish this bowl, then you like Neji," Naruto pushed a bowl of beef ramen at Tenten with a knowing grin.

"No fair! I hate beef ramen," She complained.

"So you do like him…" Naruto pretended to go into thought and laughed when she snatched up the bowl and began to dig in. Tenten slowed down about halfway and he could see how she tried not to make a face at the flavor.

"Dobe," She put down the half full bowl and wiped off her mouth. Naruto just smiled at her.

"It's not a bad thing, you've got a chance," Naruto took the bowl and finished it in record time.

"Fine, if you don't eat a pickled egg, then you have to ask Sakura to dinner," Tenten countered, pushing a jar of pickled eggs towards Naruto. (A/N: Where they came from I don't know, just pretend they have weird stuff like that for when Naruto brings a friend.) His face twisted into a frown and he reached in carefully. Tenten grinned madly as he put it in his mouth and looked horrified at what he'd done.

She applauded proudly when he swallowed it and immediately went for a glass of water.

"Not fair Tenten," Naruto glared.

"I told you, it's Neko now," She patted him on the back.

"You're Tenten to me, I won't call you Neko unless I have to," He said and gave her a foxy grin and she was oddly reminded of Lee giving her a trademark smile of his own.

"Sorry guys, but I'd say you're done," Sasuke walked up and pushed the bowls away from Naruto and Tenten.

"But I don't want to go," Naruto whined. _'All I have is an empty apartment at home"_

"I guess you could just come over," Sasuke said, reading his old friend's thoughts. Naruto beamed and looked ready to tackle Sasuke with a hug.

"Neji, do you want to come too?" Tenten smiled at him. Neji was about to refuse, but then she tilted her head and made her smile look crooked. He mentally slapped himself as he accepted, realizing that she'd just beaten him twice in a single day.


	7. Lonely Nights

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, or Tenten, or Sasuke, or Neji, or any black-mail worthy footage of them all in their sleepy state…

**A/N:** Yes, Neji is whipped and I love it. This is probably the last really funny chapter for this story. Sure there'll be some cute moments but nothing really fluffy. So enjoy it! Also, I don't know if they're reading this but thank you to **Tenten0-9** for keeping me laughing between updates.

**Chapter 7: Lonely Nights**

_'Am I dreaming?' Tenten looked around her and saw a glowing forest. It looked like an area off to the side of their training area where she would go to be alone._

_'No, this is your mind,' A feminine voice said and Tenten turned around. She gasped as she saw Uchiha Kaede walk over to her and kneel. Here was a weapons mistress she'd always admired- her Mother- and she was here talking to her. It was her mind, she had to be dreaming._

_'This can't be real,' Tenten noted the surreal appearance around her. The trees were sparkling and the grass was almost blue. It just wasn't real._

_'True,' Kaede laughed. 'This is your special place, every member of the Neko clan has one. And you can come here anytime that you want. Anytime you need me I'll help you, just come here.'_

_'How did I get here?' Tenten asked._

_'The first time you used your foresight brought you here. From now on, just meditate with a kunai on a white background.'_

_'How do you know that will work?' Tenten laughed sarcastically, trying to hide her surprise that Kaede knew what she'd used._

_'Because that's what I always did,' Kaede cupped a hand around her daughter's cheek. 'I can't believe how you've grown, you're so strong.' _

_'I wish I could've known you and Itoichi-san,' Tenten placed a hand over her Mother's and smiled sadly._

_'Don't smile when it hurts, your cousin was right about that,' Kaede took back her hand and pulled something out of her robes. 'I want you to have this,' She placed a necklace around Tenten's neck. 'It's the Neko clan symbol, it's time you started wearing it.'_

_'Thank you' Tenten looked at it. It was a half moon, one side dark blue and the other pale blue._

_'You should go now, you need the rest,' Kaede smiled at her. 'Sweet dreams.'_

Tenten woke up the next morning with her head feeling fuzzy. Curiously, she reached up to her neck and found the necklace her Mother had given her there. _'So it was real,' _Tenten thought.

She got up and slowly remembered that Neji and Naruto had spent the night and were still sleeping here somewhere. Tenten got dressed quickly, forgetting to put up her hair, and hoped neither of the guests had gotten up first. She could easily see Naruto wandering around the manor aimlessly and getting hopelessly lost. She went out into the hallway and turned towards the kitchen.

"Neji, don't watch me like that," She stopped and turned towards a spare room. A door slid open and an irritated Neji stepped out into the hallway with her, raising an eyebrow.

"How did you know?" He wondered. _'Wait, her hair is down… It looks so different…Like everything else…' _He noticed but said nothing.

"I can sense techniques now, and you were using byakuugan," She answered simply. "Hungry?"

"Hn," He replied and she smirked at him as he followed her to the kitchen anyway. Tenten made sausage, eggs and hash for four people. Neji just sat at the table and waited for her. He looked around and noticed the white rose in a vase on the windowsill and smiled without realizing it. She finally finished and set out the food for the others to just serve themselves.

"What are you smiling about?" She asked and he was pulled from his thoughts.

"Hn," Neji started eating.

"'Hn'," Tenten mocked. "We used to talk."

"I used to know what to say," He answered. "And it just seems…"

"Seems…?" Tenten tried to get him to continue. Neji glared down at his plate, how was he supposed to tell her it felt like he was losing her? He couldn't just be that selfish with her.

"Is this about the spar yesterday? It was nothing-" She started.

"That's not it, Tenten," He finally looked up at her again. "It's just…. Ever since you became Uchiha Neko, it just seems so different. I feel…"

Tenten watched him with more interest now, ignoring the fact that her breakfast was still there to tempt her. He was studying the table once more and she seemed to know what he was going to say. Since when had things gotten so tense? He used to open up about the complication with the Branch family and the Main family. Now he was so quiet about this.

"I feel like I'm losing my best friend," He finally said and risked looking back up at her.

"Neji…" She trailed off. Tenten couldn't think of anything to say and just rested her hand on his. "I'm sorry."

"It's not you, it's how everything is so sudden," Neji admitted, allowing his thumb to rub her hand slightly.

"I know," Tenten sighed. "Wasn't it about a week ago I had no family? Now they were all killed by my cousin the missing-nin."

Neji stared in surprise at how light she made the situation sound, but he could see from her eyes that it was deeper rooted than that. She'd found her family, but someone power hungry had once again denied her the chance at knowing them. Then again, her parents had been disowned. Would it matter if her relatives were still alive?

"Tenten, I-" Neji started but stopped when the door pounded open. Both of them looked up in surprise and saw Sasuke standing there looking utterly exhausted. Tenten sighed once more and got up to guide him to a spot at the table and fixed Sasuke a plate. Neji watched in wonder at how naturally she dealt with the situation._ 'Do they always do this?…' _He wondered. Once Sasuke had a plate in front of him, Tenten sat down next to Neji like before and watched him curiously.

"Momma?" Sasuke stared at Tenten with his wide, sleepy eyes. She looked back at him in shock at the name. "That's not Daddy…Who's he?…Is he…The 'other man'?…" Sasuke's head slowly inched forward and he fell asleep on the table, managing to narrowly avoid sleeping in his breakfast. Tenten continued to stare as Neji looked back and forth at the two cousins.

"Did he just call you…'Momma'?" Neji asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"I… think so…" Tenten got up slowly and took back Sasuke's plate. She paused when she found a strange symbol on his neck. _'What on earth is that?' _She touched it lightly with a finger and her eyes widened. Neji was confused by the look on her face but said nothing.

Tenten ignored the sensation and went back to dealing with the boy sleeping at the table. She put one of his arms around her neck and lifted him up. Neji grunted in annoyance and took Sasuke's other arm. Tenten smiled at him and led the way to the room. Like the day before, Tenten tucked Sasuke into bed, this time Neji was watching from the doorway. He found the whole situation oddly amusing. Tenten seemed to be the parent Sasuke had lost, and he was the family she'd never been able to care for. It was an interesting relationship.

"He's going to be out for awhile," Tenten closed Sasuke's door behind her. "He did this yesterday too."

"Did he call you 'Mom' that time as well?" Neji smirked.

"No," Tenten grinned at the memory. "He fell asleep in the food that time." Neji gave the slightest of smiles at the remark and the two continued towards the kitchen.

"Wait," Neji stopped and activated his byakuugan. Tenten raised an eyebrow and drew one of the kunai she always had ready, he slowly grabbed her hand and pulled it back. "Naruto's sleep-walking. I think he's in your bathroom."

"Great," Tenten sighed and took a shortcut to where the blonde was. Neji followed and nearly bumped into Tenten when she stopped suddenly, then saw why. Naruto was playing with her make up. Tenten's make up, which was now spread all over the counter. _'Wait…Since when does she have make up!'_ Neji thought and his mouth fell open.

_'How can he do that so well? I can hardly figure out the eyeliner!'_ Tenten thought and turned red. She ran up and grabbed it away from Naruto.

"Hey, I want to look good for her!" Naruto's eyes were only half-open but expertly covered with a lavender shadow. Tenten began to wonder what Sakura did when she had overnight missions with her team. Tenten then took all of the beauty supplies from Naruto and put them into a bag, then threw it to Neji.

"Naruto-kun, you don't need make up to impress her," Tenten took a towel and got it wet with hot water.

"But she's so smart… I couldn't impress her otherwise…." Naruto whined and squinted as Tenten rubbed his eyes with the towel. He tried to pull away but he was still asleep and she held him down firmly.

"Sakura isn't as shallow as you might think," Tenten laughed at Naruto as he squirmed. Neji rolled his eyes at the scene and leaned against the doorframe. They were going to be late, but he couldn't just leave without her. And the whole scene was just too… interesting. First Sasuke, now Naruto, does it ever end?

"No, it's not Sakura," Naruto said as Tenten went back to wet the towel once more. The other two occupants of the bathroom looked at him in surprise and then shared a curious glance. It had never been much of a secret who Naruto liked, but apparently he'd changed before telling the world for once.

"Not Sakura? But I thought that was who you meant yesterday at the Ichiraku," Tenten sounded confused. _ 'Well, I guess it explains the pickled egg…'_

"No, she's nice and pretty and everything, but this one is so much more. She's nice to everyone, and she was never mean to me during the academy days," Naruto looked like he was about to fall asleep again. Neji was watching him closely as Tenten went back to wiping the last of Naruto's make up off.

"Well, does she know you like her?" Tenten tossed the towel back in the sink after finishing. She took Naruto's arm and guided him up and out of the bathroom towards his room. Neji took the other arm when it looked like Naruto was about to fall, and Tenten looked back at him thankfully.

"She doesn't know…We don't talk enough…" Naruto sighed sadly as they reached the room he was staying in. "Besides, I'm not good enough for her…"

"What? Don't say that!" Tenten got him to lay down on the bed and was being reminded more and more of talking with the other female ninjas she knew. They talked about their boy problems and she helped them fix it. It's not like she had a boy problem to share. Right? _Right?_

"Thanks Tenten," Naruto smiled as she pulled up the covers. "But Hinata's way out of my league." Both Tenten and Neji went silent as Naruto started snoring. She looked over at her friend, whose eye was twitching furiously. He looked ready to kill and Tenten ushered him out of the room quickly.

"Did he say what I think he said?" Neji's voice was dripping with scorn and he was glaring at Naruto's door.

"He's dreaming, Neji," She put her hands on his shoulders. "Relax. This is Naruto, not someone like… like…"

"Like?" Neji directed his glare to her.

"Uh…Lee?" She shrugged and thankfully saw Neji fighting back a smile. She'd won a third time. He visibly relaxed and she went down the hall towards the phone.

"What are you doing? We need to go," Neji frowned at her.

"Sakura should know what happened to them," Tenten waved him away. "Go away, girl talk."

"Like I didn't hear enough of that already," Neji said sarcastically.

"Neji," She glared and he left reluctantly. "And don't mess with Naruto."

"How would you know?" He called from the other room.

"I'm psychic now, remember?" Tenten said with a smile.

"Hn," He finally went silent and Tenten waited for an answer on the other end. It didn't take very long.

"Haruno," Was the answer.

"May I please speak to Sakura?" She asked.

"This is Sakura," Was the response.

"Oh, okay. This is Te- I mean, this is Neko," Tenten began. "Listen, Naruto and Neji spent the night here with Sasuke and I. Sasuke hasn't been a good morning person lately, yesterday and this morning he was seeing… someone, and fell asleep at breakfast. And this morning Naruto was using my make up."

"You have make up?" Sakura sounded most surprised about that part.

"Yeah, I'm not very good with it but I think Naruto might be able to show me," Tenten said and Sakura laughed.

"They've always been like that in the morning. Once we all had to sneak into an all girl's school, so I had to put make up on them, Naruto seemed to be okay with it," Sakura recollected. "So they're still asleep?"

"Yeah, just thought you should know. Since you have training-"

"Don't worry they'll be up before Kakashi-sensei shows up," Sakura laughed again.

"There's one more thing," Tenten wasn't sure how to phrase it. "About the seal on Sasuke's neck. Does that affect him mentally?"

The other side was quiet for a long time and Tenten immediately knew she'd touched a sensitive subject. Sakura took a deep breath and went on.

"How did you know it was a seal?" Sakura wanted to know.

"I saw it when he was slumped over this morning and touched it. I got a vision of someone biting him there, then I saw it spreading all over him and giving him more power," Tenten answered.

"It reacts with his chakra usage. Only the person who gave it to him can control it, but he won't admit how serious it is," Sakura explained. "It seems to give him stronger urges than normal, like once when he was fighting in the second part of the exam, he…"

"I think I get it," Tenten heard the reluctance in Sakura's voice and stopped her. "Thanks for telling me. I've got to go."

"Okay, bye," Sakura hung up with her and let out another sigh. She thought about it for a moment and came to a slow realization. _'Neko, huh? She's not too bad, sounds like she was genuinely concerned. I guess she can stick around…' _

"Okay, let's go!" Tenten dashed past Neji, who mentally barraged himself for not seeing her coming. He couldn't quite place it but something lately was throwing him off. Especially when she was around. A thought crossed his mind as they made their way to training, when the sun hit her hair just right lighting up those lighter browns in her hair. But it couldn't be what he thought it was throwing him off.

Right? 

**A/N:** I don't believe it. By word count, this is by far the longest story I've written. And I'm dragging it out so much for once. Yay me!


	8. Mission Unknown

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything except a sword. No one touches my wakazashi!

**IMPORTANT Author's Note:** I'm actually calling her Neko now, I felt that it has evolved enough by now.

And many thanks to **Cyberwolf** for the beta read!

_**Chapter 8: Mission Unknown**_

It had been a full year since Tenten became Uchiha Neko and life was becoming more of a routine for her. Training now involved her and Neji taking turns receiving challenges from Lee, and Neko seemed to learn a new technique everyday. It was now a common sight on a late afternoon to see a flash of orange light coming from the Uchiha home; it only meant that the Uchiha cousins were sparring again.

_Tourist: Aaah! The sky is on fire!_

_Villager: Nah, stranger. Them's just the Uchiha cousins sparrin' again. _

_Villager2: Ayup._

"Sasuke, you're definitely not a morning person," Neko pulled herself up as he backed away, he'd won this time and the smirk plastered on his face wasn't helping her spirits. "You've got an attitude this morning."

"Still, you could've done worse," Sasuke shrugged. "That last technique, who showed you that one?"

"Sakura tried to, but I did my own take on it," Neko smiled at him but found herself rubbing a new bruise forming on her arm. He nodded to her and went out towards the kitchen.

"Remember, loser makes breakfast," Sasuke said, in a tone that she knew meant he was still smirking.

"Next time I win you'd better make pancakes!" She grumbled as she went to the kitchen to get breakfast ready. Neko found herself just throwing something together and then heading out to meet up with her team.

Today was a unique day, and the members of Team Gai knew it. They were meeting somewhere new and Gai had sounded rather worried on the phone, even explaining that they needed to bring a pack that would last at least two days.

And the biggest sign of all: Gai was late. Lee had taken to doing 1000 push-ups before Gai arrived and was only 100 away from his goal now. Neko found herself at the base of a tree using the various bushes around the clearing as target practice, and Neji sat next to her looking bored out of his mind. One last kunai made the usual dull thud as it landed in a tree, but this time a shriek followed quickly.

"Sorry!" Neko jumped up as she yanked back the weapon with a chakra string. A very frightened Hinata stepped out from behind a tree and Neji went over to her immediately.

"Are you alright?" He asked and the timid girl nodded.

"F-Father w-wanted m-me to get you…" She looked between Neji and Neko nervously, Neko understood immediately and went to the other side of the clearing to collect her other weapons. Hinata took a deep breath, but her face continued to grow pinker anyway.

"What is it?" Neji asked and Hinata looked at him almost apologetically.

"I w-was s-supposed to get y-you for a clan meeting. I think it's about-"

"My youthful team!" Gai appeared and startled Hinata as she tried to explain something to Neji. "The Hokage has given us a very important mission. We have to leave quickly, I will explain more when we stop for camp!"

Lee obediently jumped up and slung his pack over his shoulders. He stood next to his idol and gave him a thumbs-up as Neko looked over at the Hyuuga cousins. Hinata looked confused and Neji was torn between listening to her and his duty.

"Gai-sensei, I think they need more time," Neko pointed out and their teacher looked over at the remaining two.

"I can only give you five minutes, we'll get a head start. Come when you're finished, Neji," Gai said and they left Neji with his cousin. Neji gave Neko a slight nod of thanks as the team departed.

"Neji, Father w-was c-considering an alliance w-with another clan," Hinata blurted.

"What?"

"I'm not s-sure which one, b-but he was telling someone that if I or you w-were to w-wed that our clan would be the one to benefit," Hinata looked worried.

"Because you would take the other clan, and if I marry, the girl I marry would take ours," Neji said and Hinata nodded. He sighed and continued. "Don't worry, nothing will happen while I'm on this mission. There has to be a way out of this."

Hinata only nodded and gave her cousin a weak farewell smile. He headed off in the direction his team had gone, worried mostly for Hinata. He could handle an arranged marriage, prospects of him marrying otherwise were slim. Or so he thought. But poor Hinata would not do well with a stranger, or worse; someone she knew but didn't like at all.

Neji caught up with his team and they continued in hasty silence. Gai seemed much more tense than usual , he was not smiling or joking with Lee. He merely focused on the road ahead, like he was planning a way to attack as he went. The whole team was experiencing a rare, sober journey. Something was very different this time. There was definitely something that Gai was not telling them.

Once they set up camp, it wasn't long before they found out what that was. Gai sat across from his team, a fire burning brightly in the middle of them. Gai's usually cheerful face was in a frown, and even Lee was lacking his regular enthusiasm about a new mission.

"This mission is to save a woman called Takarai Chihhiro. She is a weapons manufacturer, but never learned the ninja arts herself. Her family protects a well known, forbidden scroll. When she was kidnapped her home was locked down, and we believe the scroll to be secure, but we can't know for sure until she has been recovered," Gai sighed and looked at each of his students one by one. "This mission is a dangerous one. I should have given you more notice. Chihhiro-san will be very well guarded, and there may be killing involved."

"You gave us less than a day's notice for a mission of this caliber?" Neji questioned and Gai shook his head regretfully.

"Honestly, I gave you as much notice as I had," Gai said. "Once we get closer we will know how to attack. But the main plan will be this: Lee and I will infiltrate and create a path to the captive. Neji and Neko will free Chihhiro-san and escort her out. The goal is to remain undetected. If you are spotted on the way out, Neko will take Chihhiro and Neji will take care of the rest."

"Why do I have to leave alone?" Neko asked.

"We need your foresight in case they go after you," Gai explained and his team nodded. "then it's settled. Get some rest, you will need it."

xXx

_'Neko-chan,' Kaede's voice called and Neko turned around with a smile._

_'Mom, we-' Neko started but was cut off by Kaede._

_'You can't be the one to leave with Chihhiro, it will be disastrous,' Kaede stated._

_'What do you mean?' Neko blinked in surprise. In the last year she had never seen her mother this serious before. Kaede looked deadly, and in the silence of the moment Neko could hear the breeze moving the trees in her mind's forest._

_'I've seen what will happen. You must let someone else take Chihhiro out, if you do it something terrible will happen. Just trust me,' Kaede was pleading now._

_'Mom, you have to know that Gai won't listen to me this time. He's never been this stressed out before. He won't change his plan,' Neko explained._

_'Neko, honey. I don't ever want to see you in pain. And I know that if things continue this way I will see it happen, please try,' Kaede's eyes were wet with unshed tears. 'You will regret it if you don't.'_

_'It's not that simple, Mom,' Neko groaned. 'Who should lead Chihhiro out then?'_

_'If you and Neji were not paired together, then you could. But for the current separation, Neji probably should,' Kaede said._

_'Are you saying Neji and I shouldn't work together?' Neko raised an eyebrow._

_'Not this time,' Kaede answered. 'There is too much at risk now.'_

_'Why can't you just tell me? Then it wouldn't happen,' Neko demanded. She was not in the best mood for this._

_'Because how am I to know that by showing you, you wouldn't do it because you'd seen it?' Kaede retorted._

_'I don't need this right now,' Neko finally just turned around._

"Neko-chan?" Neji asked as she sat upright and sighed. Neko turned to see Neji meditating on his sleeping bag, watching her with white eyes. What was so wrong with them working together?

Normally these dreams were just a way for her mother to help her with her training, and a way to keep her foresight at it's strongest. It had kept her alive a time or two, with this Uchiha craziness. But this time was more of a warning than anything else.

"Another one," She explained and he nodded knowingly. "I…can't take the captive. You should."

"What? Why not?" Neji raised an eyebrow at her.

"I don't know," Neko rubbed her forehead and thought about it. "For some reason it's worse to have me take them."

"Gai won't go for it without a reason," Neji said. "You know that. And this time especially, he's more serious than any of us have ever seen him before."

"Seems like everyone is being so serious today," Neko commented. "What was that with you and Hinata earlier?"

"Oh…Nothing," Neji replied and looked away.

"We used to talk," Neko said. It usually got some kind of reaction out of the ice block.

"It's Hyuuga business. That's all. Hiashi-sama wanted me to 'discuss' it with him, but obviously I am unavailable," Neji explained.

"Clan business," Neko grinned. "That's what's so nice about being an Uchiha: small numbers equals less 'business'."

"You've still got a lot of building to do," Neji pointed out and she shook her head.

"Nah, once he finds someone things will move quickly. And if we can reach some arrangement for my sharingan-bearing children to remain Uchiha's then we'll be set," Neko stated.

"You've thought about this?" Neji wondered.

"Something has to distract you when Sasuke doesn't want to spar," Neko shrugged and laid back down in her sleeping bag. Neji was still sitting cross-legged on his next to her. She resisted the strong urge to pull him down next to her, imagining that he'd be a better blanket than this old sleeping bag.

"Uh… Neko?" Neji said and she blinked. His face was slightly pink, and he was right above her. Neko flushed as she realized she had actually done what she'd just imagined. She released him immediately and turned away. She found little comfort in the fact that she'd been right; he _was_ warm. Neji cleared his throat and she didn't turn back, feeling far too humiliated.

"Sorry…" She muttered. "I was…cold…"

"Why didn't you say something?" He spoke and she wondered what the tone meant. She felt something drop down on her, and looked up, he tossed her his blanket and was now watching her calmly.

"No Neji, you'll freeze," She started to hand it back but he pushed her hand away.

"You need it more than I do," He said and she frowned at him.

"You're too stubborn," She sighed. "I guess we could…" Neko suddenly blushed and turned away, suppressing a giggle.

"What?" He wanted to know but she shook her head. "Neko, just tell me."

"I was going to say… I guess we could…" She didn't look at him, she knew she would be too embarrassed. "…Share."

There was no answer, she just heard blankets shuffle and she assumed he had ended the conversation and gone to sleep. But when she looked over, he had scooted his sleeping bag closer and was watching her patiently. Her face went pale. He was…They were going to… cuddle?...

"If you don't want to-"

"No, no, it's okay," She felt the color creep back to her cheeks as she spread out the blanket over their sleeping bags. He crawled into his own and scooted closer so that they could share it equally. Neko pulled the blanket up to her chin and laid back on her pillow. She studied his face carefully and froze when he reached up and brushed a hair out of her eyes.

"Hey, Neko?" He asked quietly and her eyes drifted closed. Something about his voice was soothing.

"Yeah?" She said.

"Will you always be by my side?" She heard him say it and opened her eyes to look at him again. He looked so serious and she knew it was a lot, coming from someone as antisocial as him.

"Always," She smiled at him and closed her eyes again. Neko scooted closer to him, close enough for their breaths to mingle. Before he knew it, she had fallen asleep. He allowed himself a small smile, and even wrapped one arm around her.

Neji began to dimly wonder about what Hinata had said. Which clan was it? What if it was the Uchiha's? That just wouldn't work, Hinata would be unhappy with Sasuke and Neji knew he'd rather die than let Neko become a Hyuuga branch member. Although he would love to be married to Neko, he just couldn't do that to her. Not Neko, she deserved better than that.

He would leave the clan if he had to.

xXx

Meanwhile, Hinata was out eating ramen with Hanabi in an attempt at forgetting what might happen to her or Neji. Hiashi would say something before getting her engaged to someone. Right? She was beginning to have her doubts.

Loud curses outside the door caught the cook's attention, and all of the Ichiraku's employees started to smile. Sure enough, Naruto and Sasuke walked into the restaurant. Well, Naruto walked and dragged Sasuke in. Hinata tried not to stare as she saw them come in, but turned pink anyway.

"Is ramen your solution to everything?" Sasuke grumbled as Naruto pulled him over to the bar.

"Hinata-chan?" Naruto had already tuned out Sasuke when he saw the timid girl and her sister.

"H-Hi N-Naruto-k-kun," Hinata's face went from pink to red as she smiled at him.

"Can we sit with you two? Sasuke needs the air," Naruto gave her a sweet smile and she nodded happily.

"I do not need air! She is late!" Sasuke said a little too loudly and people nearby stared at them before turning away and whispering things like 'guess another Uchiha is on the way' or 'Uchiha Sasuke did what!'.

"Who's late?" Hanabi asked.

"Neko-chan, apparently training is running long," Naruto explained.

"N-No, t-they're on a mission, t-they left this morning," Hinata said.

"What? For how long?" Sasuke directed his scowl at Hinata, who couldn't even formulate a response.

"Neji-nii-san packed enough to last two days," Hanabi said and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"She could have said something," Sasuke grumbled"Would you have listened?" Naruto asked.

"Shut up," Sasuke turned away and fell silent as usual. . He was reminded of all of the times she'd made him explain every little detail about heir missions. How long, who's going (duh! Naruto and Sakura!), how far, and so on. Maybe it was because she was older. But technically he was the clan head, she owed him these explanations too.

**A/N:** The tourist/villager scene was written by Cyberwolf during a beta read, I just had to leave it in there hehehe.


	9. Murphy's Law

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. Or Tenten (a.k.a. Neko).

**Author's Note:** Okay, here's the angsty chapter. I'm probably going to cry as I write it. Here goes nothing….

**_WARNING: Character death_**

REMEMBER… this story is rated T for Teen.

_**Chapter 9: Murphy's Law**_

_Anything that can go wrong will go wrong._

Gai woke them all up bright and early the day of the official mission. He briefed them quickly again on their roles, and Neko felt that familiar tug that something bad was going to happen. She knew she had to try and get Gai to let her take a different role. Somehow she knew it would be life or death.

"Gai-sensei," Neko began but held up a hand to stop her.

"We really don't have time for this," Gai said and made to turn away, but she caught his elbow.

"I can't be the one to escape with Chihhiro-san," Neko blurted out and Gai looked at her curiously.

"We need your foresight should someone try and get her back-"

"Neji can see 360 degrees around himself-"

"Which is why he will handle more enemies. Why is this so important all of a sudden?" Gai asked.

"You'll regret it if you don't change the plan now," Neko spoke forcefully.

"It's final. There's nothing we can do about it," Gai said and turned away, heading towards their target.

"Neko-chan, why are you questioning Gai-sensei?" Lee looked puzzled.

"Something very bad is going to happen, I know it," Neko felt a chill.

"Don't worry, Gai-sensei won't let anything-" Lee started but Neji cut him off.

"Lee, when was the last time she was wrong about these things?" Neji said, and no one else spoke. They just turned to follow their teacher.

xXx

"Sasuke, would you quit pacing? You're making me nervous," Naruto said but only received a brief glare. He glanced over at Sakura, who was also growing annoyed by Sasuke's constant pacing. "Quit worrying about her."

"I'm not worried!" Sasuke turned at them angrily and they could see the seal spreading across his face. Naruto and Sakura shrank back and he continued pacing.

"What are we supposed to do?" Naruto whispered.

"Guess it doesn't hurt to try…" Sakura trailed off and took a deep breath as she rose from her seat. Naruto watched her carefully as she walked over and came up carefully behind Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun," She said quietly before leaning forward and wrapping her arms around his waist. "Please calm down, Neko-chan will be just fine."

Naruto braced as he watched the scene, ready to jump in and peel Sasuke off of Sakura if necessary, but it wasn't. Sasuke just sighed and nodded, taking one of Sakura's wrists and gently pulling her arm away. He gave her an appreciative nod before assuming a position under a nearby tree, staring at the grass by his feet. Sakura then just walked back to Naruto calmly, and took a seat. He looked at her in wonder, and she gave him a warm smile.

xXx

"Neji, check for security please," Gai whispered as they stopped outside of the complex.

"Northeast, Southwest, and East entrances all have guards posted," Neji said, with byakuugan activated. "Southwest will be our best bet."

"Alright, Lee and I will go ahead. Wait here for us to clear the entrance, we'll go in and start clearing a path."

Gai and Lee jumped out of the tree and ran ahead, leaving Neko and Neji alone in their stakeout.

They remained silent and kept an eye out for any signs of trouble. Gai and Lee seemed to have no trouble clearing the entrance, and Neji gave them a minute's head start before they attempted to follow them in.

"Do you really think something will happen?" Neji turned to Neko.

"I hope not…" Neko shook her head. Neji placed a hand on her shoulder in a rare display of caring.

"I won't let anything happen to you," Neji sounded confident.

"Thanks," Neko replied, still feeling doubtful but appreciating the gesture, and they left for the entrance.

Neji used byakuugan to find the way Gai and Lee had opened up for them, and they slipped in quickly.

It all seemed too simple, Lee and Gai were waiting at the end for them, and covered the door as Neji and Neko penetrated the room holding Chihhiro. There were at least five guards there; but one fireball later there were only three.

Gai and Lee followed in once Neji and Neko had each taken down at least one guard, and then allowed Neko and Neji to reach the captive. They found Chihhiro easily, she was in an adjoining room and tied to a chair with a gag in her mouth. She had long , jet black hair which was tied back in a braid that was now coming undone and her eyes were a brilliant purple. Her skin was pale, probably from lack of eating and sunlight, and there was a certain light lacking in her eyes.

"Chihhiro-san," Neko addressed her as Neji untied her. The woman looked up at her dimly and nodded slightly. Neko undid the gag and Chihhiro sighed in relief.

"Thank you," the woman said and allowed Neko to place her arm around her shoulders.

"Neji, lead us out," Neko said and he obliged.

It didn't take long to see that the guards had called for reinforcements.

Neko tightened her grip on Chihhiro, who moaned at the sight of the situation growing worse. Gai and Lee were already challenging a few each, leaving at least six others for them to deal with. Neji instantly grabbed Neko and Chihhiro, and pulled them towards the exit. Their six enemies took at least a minute to figure out what had just happened, and by then Neji was ready to face them with his jyuuken stance.

"No, Neji, something's not right-" Neko pleaded but he turned to her and cut her off.

"Tenten, go. Now!" He said and began fighting them. She stared at him and felt that twinge of premonition telling her something was wrong once more. And he'd used her old name…

She knew she had to get Chihhiro out of there. It was her duty as a kunoichi. So Neko held on to Chihhiro, and plunged towards the exit.

_-left rear-_

She rolled Chihhiro down and away from her, turning to block the punch with her forearms. The shinobi looked back at her in awe, but tried a swift kick instead. Chihhiro watched the scene unfold before her eyes helplessly as Neko began to draw out various weapons.

_-below you-_

Neko jumped up away from the bunshin that was about to grab her ankle and activated sharingan. This guy was going to take more work than was safe, she thought and used a kunai to make the bunshin disappear.

_-front, kunai to lower stomach-_

Another block, this time with a kodachi. Neko saw that this was a different enemy than the one before, and looked around for the first. They had disappeared, damn… Neko pushed back the current enemy and buried a kunai in his leg and arm. He would not be doing any justus for a long time.

_-look up-_

Summoning a katana, Neko blocked the aerial assault and drove the attacker down onto the ground. It was the first guy again and she smirked inwardly. Now she wouldn't have to try to find him. Or so she'd thought.

_-left, kunai-_

With a shuriken she blocked the attack. Glancing over she saw that she was now dealing with another one. Neko also noted that Neji had taken one down, but now had a long range specialist and a short range specialist on his hands.

That was going to be tricky. That's probably what she was dealing with as well.

_-right-_

She blocked with her katana once more and fired several shuriken at the other ninja, who had gotten a little too close to Chihhiro. Dropping the weapon quickly, Neko blew a ball of flame at him and it gave her a few spare minutes to handle the first guy. He summoned an array of vines and sent them at her, which she just burned to cinders. Doing a few hand seals, Neko did kage bunshin no jutsu and sent a few to deal with each of her aggressors. Not a technique she favored using, but in this situation it was necessary. How the heck did Naruto always saty so energetic after he used it? Even when he taught it to her and Sasuke that one day a few months ago he couldn't explain it.

-_right and left-_

What? She felt confused and then realized in horror that it was a feint attack. One was a fake and the other would be real. How had they figured it out so quickly? A small scratch on her left arm was her penance for getting distracted too easily.

The first aggressor laughed evilly and she glared at him, her eyes feeling hot. She could hear the second as well, the cinders falling from his clothes were a dead giveaway.

_-left and right-_

This time she knew what it was. Neko leapt into the air and began forming seals, her Rising Twin Dragons sent a whirlwind of weapons into the surrounding area. Her attackers ducked and she pulled them back with chakra strings, then fired once more. One of the men came at her and she brought up a scythe to stop him, then pinned him to the wall with shuriken.

_-up, down, left, right-_

Neko froze and held two swords defensively, the attack was going to be a trick. She knew it. It was so obvious, right? Two kunai came at her, one from the left, another from the above her. With her swords she blocked them, then braced for the attack she knew was coming from the man himself. She paused and let herself think for just a brief second, which direction?

Right?

Below?

Right?

Below?

Right?

She had no idea, she panicked as she saw a flash of the man's black cloak and the world slowed down for her. Neko fired a kunai at the target instantly, it was heading for his heart. And just as quickly; the target was gone. But Neko never misses, she still hit something. And to her horror it was one of her usual, dead-on hits.

The strangled yell deafened her. She felt her heart break into pieces as Neji dropped to the ground, a kunai deep in his blind spot. An evil laugh broke the heart wrenching scene; the laugh of the sick man who'd caused this horror.

The laugh of the man who was going to pay very dearly.

"Do you know what you've done?" Neko turned to him slowly, a glare set deeply into her features.

"I think it's more what you've done," He replied, but in a split second found himself pinned to the wall by a sword through the stomach.

The man grunted and she stared him dead in the eye. He was losing his senses as the seconds ticked by, he watched her red eyes transform. Where only two Tomoe had been before, there were now three.

"He is my best friend," She pulled the sword upward ever so slightly, his pain filled groans giving her no satisfaction. "I love him, and I've stabbed him… In the back. You got what he deserved: a fair warning."

With that she used a kunai to cut his throat in a single, swift motion.

Coming back to her senses, she ran over to Neji. Neji was on the ground, blood pooling around him. Neko gasped at the sight, tears spilling from her eyes. He was face down and had his head on one of his arms.

"Neji…" Neko sobbed, placing her hand on his shoulder and pushing back a stray hair with the other. "I'm so sorry…"

"Don't… Nek…Tenten…" He gasped for air.

The kunai was still sitting there in his blind spot, Neko knew better than to try and take it out. It was likely blocking a lot of the bleeding.

"Stay with me," She pleaded, leaning down and holding his shoulders in a half hug as she cried. "Please, hang on."

"Tenten…I…lo-" Neji was trying to look up at her, and she was as close to his face as she could be.

"No, Neji, please… Stay with me," Neko saw his eyelids flutter. "I love you… Stay with me…"

His eyes were closing, and she felt the sobs come even harder. His breathing had slowed, and she couldn't stop the tears. He couldn't be gone, it just wasn't possible. Not Neji.

"Oh, I can hardly stop the tears," One of the thugs mocked her as he stood over the two.

She realized that it was one of the men she'd pinned to the wall with weapons, and he'd probably helped in this plan somehow. That would not do.

A new feeling burst forth within Neko. She let Neji gently slide out of her arms and directed a glare at this new challenger. Here eyes were hot, hotter than ever before, it felt like they were on fire. But it didn't matter, nothing mattered now did it? Neji was gone, and she wanted revenge. This man would have to do.

Neko drew the sword holding up the other man out from the wall and the body. She gripped it firmly and pointed it at her challenger.

She couldn't understand why he was looking at her like that. She hadn't even done anything yet, and he was cowering in fear. What was going on? He couldn't be that afraid of the sword that had killed his comrade.

"Your eyes…" He whispered and she cocked her head to the side.

"What about them?" She put the sword closer to get an answer from him.

"I-I've s-seen eyes like that j-just once. Red like when you fought, and then they changed before doing the worst attack…" He was now trembling.

"And that is?" Neko continued to question.

"Tsukiyomi…" He shook his head in fear. "I'd never wanted to be on the receiving end of mangekyou sharingan…"

"And I never wanted to be the hand that killed my best friend," Neko whispered as she watched him begin to shake furiously, then double over and vomit. She didn't even know how she was doing it, only that it was somehow tied to her emotions. Still, she somehow knew he was picturing that he was on the receiving end of what she'd done to his companion a million times over.


	10. What have I done?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. Or Tenten (Neko). Or Sasuke. Or a sharingan.

_**Chapter 10: What have I done?**_

"Neko?" Came a voice from behind her. She allowed her body to relax and turned to see Gai and Lee staring at her in shock. The man before her dropped to his knees, having a mind too weak to last twenty-four hours of being stabbed in the back.

"What happened to Neji?" Lee immediately went to his teammate.

"It…It was an accident…" Neko's eyes filled with tears as Gai knelt down to look at Neji as well. "Is he…?"

"We're losing him fast," Gai took off his vest and pulled out bandages to wrap Neji's wound quickly. Once bound, he covered Neji with his vest and picked him up. "I will run ahead and take him to Tsunade, hopefully it's not too late. You two take Chihhiro, be careful but don't take your time."

Gai was gone in a flash, leaving Neko and Lee to help Chihhiro back to Konoha. Lee watched Neko curiously, she tried to ignore him as tears were burning her eyes.

"Neko, it's not your fault-"

"That's my kunai, Lee," She turned to him seriously. "And I was the one to throw it."

"It was an accident, even you said so," Lee put a hand on her shoulder but she pulled away. He just didn't understand. She'd probably just killed her best friend. Didn't he get it? Neji wasn't going to be around to be her moving target or Lee's favorite challenge. He wouldn't be around when she got sick of spending all day at home with Sasuke. He wouldn't be there when Lee wanted to show him a new trick he'd taught his squirrels.

"Neko," Chihhiro had come over to them when they weren't paying attention. "I saw it, it wasn't your fault. He tricked you."

"But I still…" Neko shook her head and wiped away the tears. "Let's just go. The sooner we leave the sooner we can see how he's doing."

Lee nodded silently and offered Chihhiro his shoulder to lean on. Neko closed her eyes and deactivated sharingan. It felt like it was more difficult to do now. She followed silently as Lee helped Chihhiro out of the complex and into the forest. Konoha really wasn't all that far, they could make it in a day. They'd only stopped the night before to make preparations.

Chihhiro assured them that she was fine, so Lee carried her piggyback style so that they could run through the trees. Neko found herself praying as they went. Neji was going to be just fine, he'd recovered from worse. Right? She didn't even want to consider the alternative.

xXx

Sasuke dropped the shuriken he was about to throw as he felt a chill wash over him. He barely even registered Naruto coming at him during their spar and knocking him down. Naruto jumped up and saw the look on Sasuke's face as he sat on the ground. He turned to Kakashi and Sakura who were watching, and saw the concern on their faces.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?" Naruto crouched down and looked him in the face.

"Something is seriously wrong," Sasuke rubbed his forehead. "I think… her sharingan changed."

"What do you mean?" Naruto looked skeptical.

"She's got another Tomoe in each eye," Sasuke changed his eyes and showed Naruto his own for an example. "The strongest is three. But I don't think that's it…"

"Sasuke," Kakashi called over to the two boys and they turned to him. "Care to share?"

"Something's happened to Neko," He replied with a sigh. "I think someone on her team is hurt."

Kakashi's visible eye widened and he snapped the book he was reading closed. Sakura gave him a sidelong glance as he got up from his seat but said nothing. Kakashi knew this could not be good, usually Sasuke only felt Neko's premonitions if something bad was happening, and for him to lose track of things as much as this time it had to be truly bad.

"Training is over, Sasuke come with me. You two can go," Kakashi turned and headed for the Hokage's office with Sasuke in tow. Sakura and Naruto just stood there in the clearing looking dumbfounded.

"This must be bad," Sakura commented. "Who do you think is hurt?"

"I don't know," Naruto thought for a moment. "I'd better go tell Hinata, Neji's on that team too."

Sakura nodded in understanding and Naruto left the clearing. It wasn't long before he found himself knocking on the door to the Hyuuga household, feeling more and more out of place with each passing moment. The door slid open and Hanabi stood there, looking up at Naruto curiously.

"Can I talk to Hinata-chan? It's important," Naruto asked.

"And just who are you?" Hanabi wanted to know.

"Uzumaki Naruto," He said and she flashed on hearing the name shouted around the village following various crashes. She also dimly remembered seeing him at the Ichiraku the last time they were there.

"This way," Hanabi stepped back so that he could enter. He gave her a happy grin as he stepped in, and calmly followed her down the halls of the house.

xXx

"Tsunade-sama," Kakashi burst into the office, Sasuke following in surprise. Not many people just barged in like that, knowing Tsunade's temper.

"I'm busy," She held up all kinds of paperwork and glared at the silver haired jounin.

"We have reason to believe someone on Gai's team may be seriously injured," Kakashi said and her expression morphed into bewilderment. It was then that she finally noticed Sasuke.

"Is it Neko?" She asked and he shrugged. "I need you to do something."

Sasuke looked at her in wonder as she came around her desk and placed a hand on his forehead. He felt a small amount of chakra radiating from her hand and closed his eyes.

"Picture a kunai on a grey background, and think of Neko's name," She closed her eyes as well. "You don't have the sight, so I'll help you with my chakra. Tell us what you see."

He felt incredibly stupid as he stood there with his eyes closed, but he did as he was told. Sasuke couldn't see anything. Why was this supposed to work? And how? He wasn't a Neko… He finally stopped questioning it when the picture faded away and he saw a man and Neko… and another man.

"She was fighting two men at once," Sasuke squinted as the scene continued to play. "One of them is pinned to the wall with shuriken now, he's been burned up pretty badly."

"Can you see the rest of the team?" Kakashi asked.

"I think I see Neji… Lee and Gai are nowhere to be seen," He winced. "She's confused and got a scratch on her shoulder."

"Is it serious?"

"No, just testing her. I think they know how to trick her now… And…" Sasuke winced even more and felt Tsunade pour in more chakra. "They've confused her. He's feinting from four sides at once. She's dodged two, and is now trying to find the last… He appeared…She panicked and… Oh my god!"

Sasuke pulled away and opened his eyes. He fell back onto his rear and gasped for air. Tsunade stared at him in surprise as Kakashi reached down and pulled him back up to his feet. They watched him patiently as he gathered his wits.

"She threw a kunai… Missed the enemy but hit…" Sasuke ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "She hit Neji's blind spot."

"Oh no," Tsunade and Kakashi shared a glance.

"With her accuracy and the strength of her throws…" Kakashi trailed off.

"Shizune!" Tsunade shouted and left the office. "Prepare an emergency room. We're going to need a team of medics."

"They'll take care of it," Kakashi sounded like he was convincing himself more than anyone else.

"Kakashi-sensei, that's not it…" Sasuke trailed off and studied the ground.

"What?"

"If Neji dies… That means Neko killed her best friend. Do you remember … Itachi?" Sasuke spoke slowly.

"Yes… Yes, I do," He said.

"Itachi got a special sharingan," Sasuke swallowed hard. "By killing his best friend. He used it on me after he…"

"Sasuke," Kakashi stopped him. "We've given Tsunade all the warning that we could. They should be able to take care of it."

Sasuke couldn't say anything else. He just stayed silent and went to the waiting room outside of Neji's soon-to-be hospital room.

xXx

"Hi Hinata," Naruto greeted sweetly as Hanabi left them in the living room where Hinata had been reading.

"Oh, h-hi N-Naruto," Hinata flushed slightly. He walked over and took a seat next to her, causing her to watch him curiously.

"See, here's the thing…" He rubbed the back of his head, unsure of how to put it. "Sasuke and Neko have this… connection. He can always tell when she's in trouble."

"Yes, Neji-nii-san talked about it once," She spoke with a surprising lack of stuttering.

"Yeah, and today Sasuke just froze during a spar," Naruto looked at her seriously. "He thinks that someone on Neko's team is injured."

"Oh no…" Hinata put a hand up to her mouth. "D-Do y-you know who?"

"No, but I just wanted you to be warned," Naruto gave her a coy smile. "You never know."

"T-Thank you, N-Naruto," Hinata smiled back shyly. They sat there in a comfortable silence for a long time, until the phone rang. Hinata blushed, like it was interrupting them, but said nothing. But hard footsteps coming towards their door told them that it would be more of an interruption then they thought.

"Hinata," Hiashi himself appeared in the doorway, only doing a slight double-take when he saw Naruto. "We need to go to the hospital, it's Neji."

Hinata's face paled and Naruto frowned. May he shouldn't have warned her? She looked over at him and had a hard time finding her voice again.

"N-Naruto… P-Please come with?" She asked and he nodded. They got up and left the complex silently.

xXx

The second Gai arrived, Neji was taken from his arms and rushed into the emergency room waiting for him. The door was shut securely and only medical ninja were allowed to enter or exit. The Hyuugas arrived minutes after Gai did and took their positions in the waiting room with Sasuke, Naruto sitting calmly next to Hinata. He would occasionally offer words of encouragement, or just a friendly pat on the back.

Sasuke sat in silent impatience. Where the hell was she now? She had things to deal with here and now, he knew her well enough to know she would want to be with Neji the second he was allowed visitors. If Neko didn't show up soon she might miss her chance. Hell, the medics were moving faster now. They wouldn't say anything, which was always a bad sign.

Almost as though on cue, Lee came dashing in and carried a dark haired woman over to the check-in. Neko wasn't far behind, and Sasuke jumped up to see her. She looked pale, worried, and horrified all at once. Sasuke had been ready to go into parent mode and make her explain what had happen, even if he'd seen it. He was upset, she was following the same road as Itachi had.

But he couldn't berate her. She looked so terrible that he found himself wrapping her in a hug instead.

Neko burst into tears once more and clung to him helplessly. He spoke soothing words as she wet the front of his shirt with tears. Even Naruto found the scene disturbingly out of character for the both of them, but no one in the room spoke.

"Come sit down, he's been in there for awhile now," Sasuke said as they finally broke apart. Neko merely nodded with one last sniff. As he walked her over to her seat, the red light above Neji's room began to flash. Neko froze and stared at it, while Sasuke paused and looked at the medics rushing to the room.

"What's going on?" Neko asked and looked at Sasuke with a worried expression on her face.

"Nothing," He lied and made her sit down with him. The poor girl looked ready to jump out of her own skin if she didn't sit down for a minute.

"Is he-" Neko started.

"I need you to show me your sharingan," Sasuke commanded. Neko blinked in surprise but obeyed. Her eyes flashed crimson and he looked carefully, sure enough she had three Tomoe in each eye now.

But as the red light continued to flash, he watched in horror as it changed. The black Tomoe lengthened and thickened, creating a pinwheel effect more so with each flash of the light. Sasuke had only seen a sharingan like that once before.

"Switch it off," Sasuke snapped his eyes shut and turned away. "Now."

"What's going on?" She looked back at him helplessly but he didn't respond to her.

"Naruto, could you get Kakashi?" Sasuke asked the blonde. Naruto only nodded, somehow understanding the gravity of the situation.

"Sasuke," Neko grabbed his shoulders and turned him to face her. "What is wrong with my eyes?"

"Neko-chan, your eyes are fine," Sasuke twitched slightly. "Except that now you are the third Uchiha to have them, with the second being the one who killed our clan."


	11. When You Go

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**Author's Note:** I think you guys are going to like this chapter. You'll see why…

_Chapter 11: When You Go_

The room silenced after a few minutes of medics running around. By now, Neko had frozen at the news Sasuke had told her. Would she be the same as Itachi now?

The red light above Neji's room stopped flashing.

Sasuke could see the toll this was taking on her and made her sit with him, then caught a medic as they ran by and had them find Kakashi for him. To think, his main concern used to be defeating Itachi someday. It was so different for him, having to take care of someone else too. Yet it was a good feeling to have family again.

Family that would be a good match against Itachi now.

Sasuke shook the thought from his head. He couldn't think that now. If she faced Itachi-- as an Uchiha or anyone else-- she'd be dead. That would be all; Itachi would just kill her like he had all the others. Then Sasuke would be alone again. Those bonds he'd made would be torn from him all over again. His only relative would once again be the one he meant to kill.

Neko shook a little, distracting him and causing him to look down at her. His shirt was wet with her tears and he frowned. How could even think of what would happen if she faced Itachi? She was family, and that was selfish of him, to expect her to finish his job. She had never had the bonds that he lost; she had never had to walk through the compound, going past where Aunt Inu and Uncle Miroku waved at him when he came home from school. Neko had been alone from the start.

That made her different from both of them.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi asked as he approached. Sasuke looked up, as did Neko from the slight movement Sasuke made. "So she has returned."

Neko swallowed hard at his tone. She felt like someone else now, someone dark. Kakashi bent down to face her and politely asked to see her sharingan. She did as asked and he had her do other small tests, right there in the waiting room. Sasuke watched quietly, brooding, as the scene continued.

"It looks like it is a mangekyou sharingan," Kakashi looked curious from behind his mask. "I'm afraid we are going to have to continue this in pri-"

"Hyuuga-san," A medic came out of Neji's room and Kakashi stopped mid-sentence as she went over to Hiashi. "He's going to be just fine; we have treated the wound and stopped the bleeding. It will take a day or so before it will close up completely. A small group may come in and see him now."

Neko looked up at Kakashi hopefully, her eyes suddenly drying up. Kakashi gave a hint of a smile and nodded for her to go in. Hinata, Hiashi, Hanabi, Gai and another Hyuuga she didn't recognize went in as well. The room was very large, and the white seemed clean yet almost blinding. Symbols were painted on the floor, suggesting that a large ritual had been done to save him.

Neji was now lying in a hospital bed with various wires hooked to him and Tsunade next to him monitoring vital signs. His dark hair was all over the pillow he was resting on, and he looked incredibly pale. The group made a small half circle around his bed and he looked at each of them with half-lidded eyes.

"Neji-nii-san," Hinata's eyes were shiny with unshed tears as she took his hand and he gave her a weak smile. Neko noted almost happily that he seemed to no longer blame his situation on her, and that gave her slight reason to smile.

"He gave us a real scare for awhile there," Tsunade commented. "His heart stopped for two whole minutes."

Neko stared at the Hokage with a mixture of guilt and disbelief. Hinata glanced over at Neko, a small tremble passing through her. Neji felt it and followed her gaze over to Neko's face. She looked down at the ground in shame. It was her fault. It had been her kunai. Had Gai been two minutes later Neji might not have made it.

The last thing he'd said to her, strangled and hard to hear, he had called her Tenten. A name no one—even Naruto—had used in nearly a year. The name Neji had such a hard time remembering when they first met, the name she had lived with for so many years and was now just a memory. Her real name was Neko, of the Neko and Uchiha clans. It still seemed like a nickname, like they called her a cat because of her stealth.

"Neko-chan," She heard him say weakly in a tone devoid of anger, and Neko looked up at him expectantly. "It wasn't your fault. They tricked you and you reacted the way that any of us would have."

"Neji… I'm sorry," Neko felt a tear escape and started to turn away again. A finger on her made her look back. Neji's free hand was gently brushing away the tear and he gave her a gentle smile.

If anyone had doubted the bond between the two teammates before, they did not now.

"I'm afraid that's all the time I can give you for now," Tsunade ushered them out of Neji's room. "Neko-chan, Kakashi will be waiting outside for you. Gai, I need to talk to you."

The group was silent as they left and Neko went to another part of the hospital where they could talk in private. Tsunade pulled Gai aside right in the waiting room where the Hyuuga were hearing Hiashi tell them the condition of their favorite branch member.

"You understand that Uchiha Neko comes from both the Neko and Uchiha clans, correct?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes," he replied, not liking where this was going.

"So you are aware that she has incredibly accurate premonitions, correct?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"I'm not through yet. So she came to you saying that it would be disastrous to have her and Neji break out with the captive," Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "And you did not change the plan?"

"The mission was too important, anyone else and an attack might have been a surprise," Gai defended himself.

"I'm sorry, but the lives of a team are more important. We came one step away from having lost Neji, a skilled Hyuuga with a promising future, and Neko to grief," Tsunade sighed and shook her head at Gai. "I understand what you were trying to do, and how odd it was to send your team on a mission this vital at their ages. But even with as worried as I know you were, it would be a good idea to listen to the team's psychic. This is a warning; start listening in the future."

Tsunade left the waiting room, unaware that everyone had been listening to her and Gai. Gai's head sank and he studied the floor in silence as the visitors slowly went back to what they had been doing.

XXX

Neko went through various examinations by both Kakashi and Tsunade to make sure that there was little chance that she would snap as Itachi had, but they decided that her honest remorse at what she'd done justified her. And they did both confirm what Sasuke had; she did now have mangekyou sharingan. She would be forced into lessons with both Kakashi and Sasuke now, but she decided that it was probably for her own good.

It was a long night, and many of the lesser Hyuuga clan members headed home before long. Neji was recovering, and would be fine. It was a relief after the scare they'd had, and many found they were no longer needed. Neko watched them go disinterestedly, thought she received various annoyed looks from them, after all she'd nearly cost them their prodigy. Neko couldn't help but think that they were being hypocrites; the rules their clan lived on constantly held Neji back from his potential.

"Hinata, Hanabi," Hiashi finally broke the silence and almost everyone looked to him for lack of anything else to do. "Go home, you need the rest."

"But Dad-" Hanabi complained and her father held up a hand to stop her.

"It's late, and he's going to be just fine," Hiashi assured. Hinata rose slowly and put a hand on her sister shoulder to get her to come along.

"Sir, would you mind if I walked them home?" Naruto offered and Hinata immediately blushed.

"Thank you, that would be fine," Hiashi nodded and they left quickly. Neko couldn't help but grin lightly as the group left the waiting room. At least one part of this night could be smiled upon.

"Should we go?" Neko asked Sasuke quietly.

"Only if you want to," Sasuke sighed and leaned back. "Although I could think of things I'd rather do."

"I see," She rubbed her head and closed her eyes. Having to switch back and forth over and over again for Kakashi and Tsunade had taken a toll on her head. Nurses strolled by leisurely, as it was very early in the morning- or late, depending on how you looked at it.

"Maybe we should get you back," Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her and her back stiffened. He frowned at this, ready to explain his meaning but instead she looked around as though she had just seen a ghost.

"What is it?-" Sasuke started but was cut off when she bolted from the waiting room, startling several nurses and visitors as she went. He groaned and ran after her, wondering if anything else could be worse tonight.

XXX

It was dark out and Hinata kept a protective arm around her sister, despite the difference in skill. Naruto walked a step or two away, careful to keep his distance. They said nothing as they crossed a bridge that led from the hospital to the main part of town near the Hyuuga compound. It was a very clear night, the stars glittering clearly over the Hokage monument and reflecting in the water. The town seemed dead, and no lights were on.

That was when Naruto noticed the footfalls behind them.

XXX

"Tsunade-sama," Kakashi spoke silently after Neko left the room, as Tsunade seemed to have fallen into deep thought. "She feels so alone now, like there is no one who can understand her."

"I know, I know," the Hokage sighed and looked away. "You lost your father early on, and you know how it feels to be alone. Now you want me to reach out to her…"

"I'm just saying… Shouldn't you have said something to her? As far as she knows, the only family she has is Sasuke," Kakashi said plainly. "While he has warmed up to her, she likely needs more than that now."

"So you think I should have told her?" Tsunade turned back to Kakashi, a dim smile over her features. "I should have told her that my mother was a Neko, too?"


	12. Revelations

**Disclaimer:** Of all the things I don't own, I think I'd enjoy a sharingan the most… Maybe a byakuugan, either would be cool…

**Author's Note:** I don't know if the cursed seal actually does this (you'll see what in chapter) but remember this is just fanfiction!

_Chapter 12: Revelations_

_It was a very clear night, the stars glittering clearly over the Hokage monument and reflecting in the water. The town seemed dead, and no lights were on._

_That was when Naruto noticed the footfalls behind them…_

Now Naruto knew he was never known to be a very intelligent person. But his instinct was an altogether different story, and he'd learned to listen to it. When the animal inside was threatened, it was time to start thinking about what to do. He took a few more minutes to be sure before he said anything to the girls. Before long, Naruto was sure that the sounds were not coming from them, and there was nothing to cause an echo.

"Hinata-chan," He whispered, stepping closer and placing a hand on her back so that he could be sure she was the only one who heard him. "We're being followed."

The girl shivered visibly and swallowed hard. He cautioned her not to change the pace and stayed closer to her than before. She whispered a warning to Hanabi who nodded slightly.

"Should we use byakuugan?" Hanabi asked.

"If you can be discrete about it," Naruto replied and both girls activated the technique. They spent a minute or two searching without turning around.

"Behind us to the right, about fifty feet away and hard to see," Hinata whispered to Naruto.

"Hinata-nee-san," Hanabi sounded worried. "There are two of them… I think one of them is carrying something big…"

"Don't worry you two," Naruto smiled. "I'll take care of you."

There was a sound like the wind, and they suddenly had someone standing in front of them and someone standing behind them. The girls gasped in surprise and Naruto frowned, trying to think of what to do. It was too dark out to make out the faces of those who had ambushed them.

"So this is the kid with the nine-tails?" The one in front of them asked.

XXX

Sasuke continued to run after his cousin but had barely managed to come within arm's length of her. All she had told him was that Naruto and Hinata were in trouble and needed help. Somehow he felt that there was more to it, or maybe she didn't know why she felt it was so dangerous.

But as they got closer, he started to recognize the chakra.

_It couldn't be,_ he thought, waiting until they were closer. But then he felt it pulse again, and he was more convinced that he knew who the trouble was. But why would he come back now? It had been years since he was in Konoha.

And Neko was heading straight for him.

"Neko!" Sasuke yelled and grabbed her. She was jerked to a stop and glared at him angrily. "You can't go, let me go alone."

"They're in trouble! You can't help them alone!" She yelled and tried to pull away. He had an iron lock on her arm, and he wouldn't let her break it. He wouldn't let her face _him_.

"I'm so sorry Neko…" Sasuke said. When she was about to protest, he punched her in the temple, knocking her out. She fell limply against him, and he felt guilty. Gently laying her against a nearby tree, Sasuke then ran to help his teammate by following the familiar feel of_ his_ chakra.

XXX

"What is he talking about, Naruto-kun?" Hinata was worried and Naruto bit his lip. He couldn't tell her that they were apparently looking for him.

"I guess so," the companion replied. The one in front of the three stepped forward slowly, allowing them to make out a black cape with red clouds on it. The larger one behind them chuckled slightly.

"Show your faces, you cowards!" Naruto shouted, not to taunt but rather to let someone out there hear them. Two ninja would not gang up on a pair of genins—knowing _what_ he was—without being some ridiculously high rank.

A young man, probably in his twenties, stepped out of the shadows and Naruto stared in surprise. He had jet black hair and his face looked young except for two lines on his cheeks. But it was the eyes that caused him to stare. Only Sasuke, Kakashi and Neko had those eyes. Who could this guy be? Was it a trick?

"So you know an Uchiha?" the man asked coolly. "I can tell from the surprise in your eyes."

"Can I take the girls?" The dark haired man's companion asked. Naruto chanced a look over his shoulder. The man was huge, looked like he was a creature from the black lagoon, and carried a massive sword. Hinata and Hanabi were both in the typical jyuuken pose, ready to attack.

"We have a job to do, Kisame," the man replied, with the same emotionless tone that he'd used before.

"I think you can handle it," the one called Kisame chuckled again, a truly gruesome sound.

"Leave them alone," Naruto growled and created twenty shadow replications. They surrounded him and the two Hyuuga heiresses. Kisame chuckled again, and that was when Naruto turned around to see half of his replications vanish with a wave of the dark-haired man's arm. The Konoha ninja gasped when the last of the shadow replications were gone. Now their attackers stood side by side and waited for a reaction.

"You didn't think we could do that so quickly, did you?" Kisame grinned horribly down at them. Within seconds the shark-like creature had Hinata by the throat and was lifting her into the air.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto yelled.

XXX

Neji sat upright, eyes wide open and his breathing rapid. He yelled for a nurse in a sense of panic, feeling suddenly helpless. One of them came over to him and made him lay back down before he hurt himself. Neji grumbled the whole time and finally convinced the woman to leave him alone and get Tsunade. She seemed happy to have a reason to go.

That could not have been a dream, it just was not possible. But it just felt so real. He cautiously raised a hand to his forehead and felt for the mark. It was hot; which usually meant that either Hinata or Hanabi needed help.

That man with the black hair… Why had he looked so much like Sasuke?

XXX

Kakashi was watching Tsunade with mild interest as she contemplated the idea of revealing her heritage to Neko. Yes, her mother had been a Neko. Tsunade had spent several years learning that technique that allowed her to foresee necessary things. It kept her calm during relations with other countries, and it helped when a crisis was near. But it was far from perfect. The choices made always affected the future, and so when she developed the advanced sight she found that it was not as much help as one would have thought. She had not seen this disaster coming; she had only felt the instinct that something would go wrong. That was why she had sent Team Gai.

"I doubt it would help her, she would be better off learning alone," Tsunade said, more to herself than to Kakashi.

"But she would appreciate it all the same," Kakashi pointed out. He watched with a raised eyebrow as Tsunade's gaze went blank, and he frowned when she started to sway in her place. "Tsunade-sama?"

"We've got trouble again," Tsunade turned and left the room abruptly. A nurse appeared and babbled about Hyuuga Neji needing to see her, but stopped once the Hokage brushed past.

XXX

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto had yelled and immediately produced two more clones to help him form a rasengan. He charged at the sharkman, attack ready, and was about to make contact.

"N-Nar..uto…Duck," Hinata managed to gasp. Naruto looked up at the last minute and saw that giant sword coming down upon him. He tried to bring up the rasengan in defense, but the sword fell faster than he moved.

"Naruto!" Hanabi yelled and was about to run for him when—

Someone jumped in and shoved Naruto out of the way. Naruto landed on his butt with a thud and his rescuer rolled away to safety.

Itachi said nothing and watched as his brother breathed heavily in anger and did nothing to help his teammate stand.

"Why are you here?" Sasuke yelled at his closest relative.

"It's no concern of yours," Itachi finally answered. Sasuke's face hardened into a glare and he made no reply. "Have you grown at all brother? You're still acting so rashly."

"You're one to talk; you're the one who killed them. All of them," Sasuke replied then looked over at Hinata squirm in Kisame's grip. "Let her go, she has nothing to do with this."

"Neither do you," Itachi answered for Kisame. Before anyone could see it, Itachi had Sasuke pinned against a tree. "Why are you so weak?..."

Sasuke grunted and Naruto was torn. Help Hinata or help Sasuke? Both were in bad spots, and both were his friends… He looked up at Hinata again and noticed the color of her face. Naruto jumped up into the trees and formulated a quick plan to try and save her again. Sasuke was strong, and was able to use his hands if needed.

"It is because you lack…" Itachi continued. "…Hatred."

"I hate you…" Sasuke managed to say and Itachi barely reacted.

"Even so, perhaps I should do now what I should have done then…" Sasuke could feel the tip of the kunai against his neck. It was cold, and sharp. Sasuke closed his eyes, bracing for it. These past few years were torment, all because of this man. Now this same man was going to end it all. Should he be angry or grateful?

Sasuke's eyes shot open when the weight pressed against him was torn away. Itachi sat several feet away, looking angry and stunned, and Neko slowly stood up in between her cousins. She held several kunai in each hand and looked slightly over her shoulder at Sasuke.

"Don't you_ ever_ do that to me again," Her tone drippedwith anger before she turned back to the task at hand. Itachi had gotten to his feet by now. He stared at her in wonder, probably wondering why any female with skills like hers would bother saving Sasuke.

"And just who are you?" Itachi demanded, sounding annoyed. She stared back at him with hate in her eyes, and heard Sasuke come up and stand next to her.

"Go help Naruto and Hinata," Sasuke ordered.

"No, this is where I should be," She said, never looking away.

"Answer me, kunoichi," His eyes almost seemed to darken. She had already noted that he had sharingan, meaning that this had to be the Uchiha Itachi. Her cousin. Someone who would have killed her parents had he been given the chance.

Kakashi and Tsunade had told her that she now had mangekyou sharingan, which looks like a red and black pinwheel when it uses the tsukiyomi, an illusionary attack. His sharingan had grown darker, and she noted that he was probably about to attack her with it. So Neko closed her eyes and activated her own sharingan, allowing him to see just what kind if a ninja he was dealing with.


	13. Winds of Change

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, or Sasuke, or Tenten (Neko)…

_Chapter 13: Winds of Change_

_Kakashi and Tsunade had told her that she now had mangekyou sharingan, which looks like a red and black pinwheel when it uses the tsukiyomi, an illusionary attack. His sharingan had grown darker, and she noted that he was probably about to attack her with it. So Neko closed her eyes and activated her own sharingan, allowing him to see just what kind if a ninja he was dealing with._

When she looked up again, she was met by a glare. The last three Uchihas stood together now in a clearing, and a clash of titans seemed imminent.

"So you're that long lost cousin…" Itachi commented as she drew out a kodachi.

None of them turned when they heard Naruto and Hanabi thrown back again as they tried in vain to free Hinata from Kisame.

"Help them," Sasuke hissed at Neko. "This isn't your battle."

"You'll get yourself killed," she retorted as Itachi waited.

"So you'll help me like you helped Hyuuga?" Neko winced at the verbal blow and slowly backed up closer to Sasuke. Sasuke seemed relieved and Neko's aura glowed with annoyance as she caved in. The clearing felt oddly still as the seconds ticked by.

"You're going to let him talk you down so easily?" Itachi teased. "You have these same eyes, and yet you listen to him?"

"Shut up," Neko hissed. _You don't know what you're talking about…_

"You know how it feels, don't you?" Itachi went on, and Sasuke cast a sidelong glance at Neko. The girl was shaking.

xXx

"Neji," Tsunade said to get his attention once she entered his room. She muttered for the nurse to go back and send Kakashi to trace the Uchiha cousins movements as she went over to the Hyuuga. Neji tried to sit up but she was already pushing him back down onto his bed. "I need you to relax, we can't help them if you don't relax."

"How did you know?" he looked surprised.

"I saw it, too," was all the explanation she would give him. "Now, we are going to try something that has not been done in many years…"

"What are we doing?" Neji sounded suspicious and Tsunade gave him a weak smile.

"We're going to help them the fastest way possible," she answered and placed her hands on his temples.

xXx

"Shut up!" Neko yelled and closed her eyes.

"And to have that dreadful sight that makes sense of nothing," Itachi smirked slightly. "You must really be going through something unique."

"Shut up," the shaking was worse now and Sasuke tried to place a hand on her shoulder. She pulled away and covered her ears, the kodachi clanking dully as it hit the ground.

"Neko, Neko don't listen—" Sasuke tried to talk to her but she would not hear it.

"He's in your head, isn't he?" Itachi's voice rang like a bell in the clearing. Neko froze and even stopped shaking for a moment. Sasuke stared at his brother in surprise, was this what had make Neko so crazy in the waiting room?

"Shut up," she said weakly, tears falling from her eyes.

"It won't go away," Itachi almost sounded sympathetic as he said it. "He'll be there talking to you forever. It will always be the negative side, never the optimism. It's the side cast away as they pass on."

Neko opened her eyes and looked over at Itachi, he stood alone in the dark clearing like a pale spirit back from the dead. A dark memory hanging over them all.

"You're wrong," her voice broke as she said it. " He just… He just…says good-bye… over and over again…"

"But he's still there, haunting your every breath, every heartbeat," suddenly Itachi was standing an inch from her face, between her and Sasuke. "I'll end it, end the pain for you, cousin…"

xXx

"Just relax, you will be fine. They need you…" Tsunade trailed off and Neji closed his eyes as his mind melted away. Suddenly he saw trees, and grass. It all seemed so blurry. And loud. There was so much yelling…

xXx

There was yelling, all too fast and panicked to make sense of. Within seconds, Sasuke had a chidori charged and ready to pierce through Itachi's flesh as Neko's own kodachi was raised to her neck. The weapon was dropped, and Neko thrown back, when Itachi grabbed Sasuke's elbow. He bent his brother's arm back towards himself, so that the ball of lightning was heading for Sasuke's own chest.

Neko jumped back up, snatching her kodachi, and charged into the mess to save Sasuke. It looked hopeless, as Itachi continued to manipulate any attack to his advantage. The buzzing chidori drew ever closer to Sasuke's chest. One part of the lightning edge licked the sleeve of his shirt off.

A final, deafening thud threw all of them back. Neko landed painfully on her rear end, then felt her head connect with the ground. She jumped back up and looked for signs of her cousins; it was then that she realized someone was standing next to her. Her gaze traveled slowly up from their feet until she gasped upon sight of their face.

"Neji?" Neko cried out. He looked down at her and smirked, offering her a hand up. She took it shakily and never took her eyes off of him. "What are you doing here? You're injured!"

"Someone had to help you, since these guys are preoccupied," Neji gestured at Hinata's situation, and Neko noted with a worried expression that Hanabi looked like she had broken something as Naruto taunted the kidnapper in his usual fashion.

"How?" Neko could not help but ask.

"It's a trick Tsunade-sama will show you someday," Neji explained. Neko frowned and let the subject drop, then ran over to help Naruto save Hinata, she knew Sasuke would not let her offer any help to him now. Neji watched her go and then turned to see Sasuke and Itachi. Both had managed to get up again and Sasuke was glaring daggers at the eldest Uchiha. Neji chose to sit this one out and went to help Hanabi with her injury.

"Naruto," Neko approached him as he yelled at the sharkman. "Let me handle this one."

"But Hinata-chan…" Naruto protested.

"Sasuke needs you now," Neko never looked away from Kisame's eyes, letting him get a good long look at the pinwheel effect in her own. Naruto finally grumbled and went over to help his teammate.

Sickly yellow eyes focused on Neko after watching Naruto leave, and Hinata's squirms could be heard easily. Neko glared up at her captor and he returned it heartily.

"Is that all you can do, wench?" he taunted and she let a ghost of a smirk creep onto her lips.

"You wish…" she trailed off as the red and black in her eyes began to blend together, bringing a nightmare to life in Kisame's mind. He easily let go of the flame he thought was burning the hand that held Hinata. Neko relaxed her eyes, locking the sharkman into the illusion, and went over to help Hinata.

Naruto had come to a halt next to Sasuke, who barely registered it as he continued to charge at his older brother with yet another chidori. Naruto prepared his own rasengan and helped out his teammate, who said nothing as they closed in on the elder Uchiha. Itachi said nothing and merely stood there as they approached.

He had vanished within seconds of contact, leaving a log to be torn apart by the force of their attacks.

"It seems that we've wasted out time here," Itachi commented from the other side of the clearing as he glanced over at Kisame screaming in agony. It was not long before he had gone, taking his partner with him.

"Wait, nii-san!" Sasuke screamed but it was too late. He screamed a string of profanities and went down to his hands and knees. He had failed again. He was too weak. Naruto just stood there looking sad and watching Sasuke's break-down.

Neko looked up just in time to see Neji slowly fade into the background, his job being complete. "No, wait, Neji!" she yelled before he was completely gone, and added when she had his attention: "Thank you." The last thing she saw was the smirk that had adorned his lips. Kakashi showed up just in time to see that everything had already played out, and Naruto gave him a slight look of annoyance that clearly said 'late again.' Kakashi saw the emotion radiating from the Uchiha cousins and chose to help Naruto with the Hyuuga girls.

"Why?" Sasuke yelled and whipped around to face Neko, who jumped at the sudden motion. "Why the hell did you stop him?"

"W-what?" Neko's eye twitched, she knew what he meant but was afraid to hear it.

"Why didn't you let him kill me?" Sasuke cried out, and his eyes looked wet. She did not even notice as her own eyes bleed back to their natural brown state. Her cousin just continued to stare her down with hatred as Naruto checked on the Hyuuga heiresses.

Without warning, Sasuke had punched Neko. She fell back with the blow and kept her eyes down to the ground as the situation sank in. They now had all eyes on them as Neko got back up again and Sasuke glared at her.

"I told you not to do that again," her tone dripped with anger. "And you forget cousin, that we have a bond now."

"Bond?" Sasuke scoffed, still looking ready to attack her.

"I've never had a brother before," she spoke honestly, and then looked over at Naruto. "You two… Have a bond like no other. You two really are like siblings. I don't know if we're more like cousins, or if it really was like living with a brother…"

Sasuke's expression softened when he saw the tears falling from her eyes, though her bangs hid her face. He frowned at the scene; he hated it when girls cried. Especially her and Sakura. He never knew whether to hug them or to try and get out of the way of the attack that would follow.

"…But I don't want to be alone again…" she finally sniffed. The clearing was silent as she stood there with her eyes to the ground. Naruto bit his lip as he watched; Sasuke just did not understand how important he actually was to so many people here.

The raven-haired boy moved forward slowly, and Neko had barely looked up before he wrapped his arms around her. She clung to him helplessly and cried into his shirt. He just let her do it, and kept his face as stoic as usual. Somehow he knew this all hurt her too, she would never feel the way he did but it was a kind of companionship he could use.

xXx

"They left," Neji mumbled as he came out of the daze Tsunade had put him in.

"Thank you," she gave him a weak smile and rose to leave the room. Neji could not help but notice that she looked strikingly like Neko when she had said it.

Tsunade left the room quickly and found Gai first. She gave him quick instructions to go to the field where the genin were and help the Hyuuga heiresses back to the hospital. Then came the difficult part.

"Hyuuga-san," she went out into the waiting room and addressed Hiashi. "May I have a word?" He obliged silently and followed her out to a nearby hallway where they would not be overheard.

"What is it?" Hiashi wanted to know.

"I'm afraid that your daughters were ambushed on their way home with Naruto. The Uchiha cousins were able to help and thankfully drove away the attacker."

"A couple of genins drove away an ambush?"

"The attackers were after Naruto. One of them was an Uchiha, and was distracted by his relatives," Tsunade explained. "Please keep this quiet and don't worry. The girls only have minor injuries."

Hiashi fell silent and Tsunade said goodbye as she had patients she needed to prepare for. He returned to the waiting room looking more solemn than before and none of the other Hyuuga clan members dared question what had occurred with him and the Hokage.

"I guess we won't be leaving for awhile," one of them remarked.

Little did they know, Hiashi was planning some thing that involved much more than medical bills.

xXx

"Gai-sensei?" Neko was naturally the first to notice the approach of her teacher. He did the traditional 'good guy' pose and she felt a small sense of relief that something in this world could still be seen as normal.

"What happened here?" he asked and immediately went over to Hanabi, who showed the worst injury.

"Akatsuki," Kakashi said with a frown, and a tone that suggested familiarity.

"It was a long overdue family reunion," Neko said venomously. Gai nodded sympathetically and steadied Kakashi as he rose with Hanabi in his arms.

"How's your neck?" Naruto studied Hinata before letting her get up. She smiled and said that it was just a few bruises. He still looked upset when he lowered her collar to see it was already a deep purple. She blushed and pushed him away as they followed Gai and Kakashi back to the hospital.

Neko sighed with relief as they were able to leave and she gathered her weapons. Sasuke muttered something about her being slow and she expertly aimed a shuriken at him. He smirked back at her and caught it easily.

"You're losing your touch, Nek—" he stopped, as she was on her knees. "Nee-san?"

"My… My side…," she said slowly and removed the arm she had at her side, revealing a deep gash. Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise and he quickly tore her shirt to use as a tourniquet.

"How... did…?" she wondered more to herself than to Sasuke. He was talking but she could not understand him. When did Sasuke get so blurry?

But why was there a gash in her side? She tried to remember the fight. Itachi had thrown her aside when Sasuke tried to charge him with chidori. Itachi had also thrown her kodachi. The landing had been painful, but she had bounced right back up to save Sasuke and her friends. That pain… it must have been the kodachi connecting with her side. Adrenaline had stalled the pain until now.

Sasuke had turned and yelled at the others. Why couldn't she hear him? Naruto and Hinata were standing over her now, looking scared. Poor Hinata, she looked so horrified. Why was everyone watching her? Hanabi was the one who needed to go to the hospital. And Neko was just so tired, her eyes began to drift shut.

Sasuke prodded her viciously and she hissed in pain. Now he was yelling at her. Had he not done enough to her tonight? He hit her twice and now he was yelling at her? She just wanted to get some sleep…

xXx

Neko opened her eyes to see a sea of white. She blinked and suddenly felt a wave of pain wash over her head as though she had run into a stone wall head first. With a groan she placed a hand on her head and rubbed her eyes.

"Good morning," a voice came from her left and she turned her throbbing head to see a smiling Hyuuga Neji in the bed next to hers.

"Am I in the hospital?" she wondered.

"Yes, they said you were fairly banged up," he commented and smiled as she rubbed her head again. "That's a minor concussion. You also have a few broken ribs from that kodachi."

"How are Hinata and Hanabi?" Neko wanted to know and he pointed to the visitors that were leaning against the wall. Hinata's neck was as pale as ever while she and Hanabi slept leaning on each other, with Hanabi's arm in a sling for the time being. A seat away from them sat Sasuke, Naruto and Lee. Neko had to suppress a laugh as Naruto and Sasuke slept on each other.

"Hiashi-sama was angry," Neji sounded tired as he spoke. Neko just listened intently as he went on. "He wants to marry off Hinata for her safety."

"What? But she's fine…" Neko was surprised.

"But it wasn't her or Hanabi they were after…" Neji trailed off and looked pointedly in Naruto's direction.

"I see," she lowered her eyes and felt a twinge of pity for Hinata. "Seems so rushed…"

"Apparently he's been talking about it for awhile," Neji admitted. "That was what Hinata came to talk to me about that day when we left for our mission."

"So that's why you looked so down," Neko gave a weak smile. "You really do care about her."

"She's like a sister to me, her and Hanabi," the ghost of a smile was on his lips; just enough for her to recognize the honesty in his words.

"Don't worry, it'll all work out," she assured him and they drifted into silence. He was surprised at this and looked over to see that she had fallen asleep once more. Neji let himself smile slightly and turned back to studying the sheets on his bed. Would she have been so supportive if he had told her which clan Hiashi wanted to marry Hinata off to?


	14. Alliance

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, or Neko (Tenten), or Sasuke, or Neji…

**Author's note;** Someone mentioned that typing "Neko" messes you up and makes you want to type "Neji" instead. I have the same problem, try typing them both during a spar!

_Chapter 14: Alliance_

It had been a week since that crazy night at the hospital. Kakashi and Gai were watching Neko like a hawk, meanwhile having her train more than usual. Kakashi had completely taken over helping her use her sharingan, something Sasuke seemed rather grouchy about. Actually, he had been grouchy for a few days.

As far as Neko could remember, it had started one day when Sasuke had answered the phone after she returned home after practicing with Kakashi. She had failed to see the look on his face when he had answered with the usual "Uchiha." Neko had been sitting with a warm cloth over her eyes; Kakashi usually worked her hard and spent her chakra quickly. Why should this phone call have been any different than usual? The pauses between his responses should have been the first clue, and his tone should have been the second.

Now, days later, the plop of an outfit in her lap with the words "put it on" told her that there was something he was keeping from her.

"What's going on?" Neko looked over the clothes he had given her. They were all black. One was a black brocade shirt, another was a black skirt with a white and red hem and the last was a simple kimono style jacket with the Uchiha crest on the back.

"The Hyuuga clan has requested a meeting," Sasuke sighed. "It sounds like they plan on some kind of partnership."

Neko paused and thought back to the week before. Neji's words in the hospital… _'He wants to marry off Hinata for her safety.'_ She studied Sasuke's stressed out face and frowned. Naruto would be disappointed, this much she knew from the midnight confession so long ago.

"Why do I have to go?" she wondered out loud and looked over the clothes once more. She did not feel any desire to watch Hinata's father give her happiness away. But when she felt the steely glare of Sasuke's eyes upon her, she thought it over again. Of course she had to go. Was she really supposed to expect him to enter a house of white-eyed, chakra blocking ninjas alone?

"I mean… In these?" Neko held up the clothes and watched his glare fade into a scowl.

"You're the head of the Uchiha branch family, so I'll need you to dress like it," Sasuke explained then sighed. "They expect us in an hour, please just go change?"

Neko scowled back at him but went into a nearby bathroom anyway. The walls were thin enough for her to hear him pacing and she guessed that he had never met with another clan before. Much less as the head of his own. And what was this about a branch family all of a sudden? When she finished changing she was about to ask, but then Sasuke just started talking.

"Here's how the etiquette works: you stay five steps behind me at all times; I do the talking, greeting and so on; and finally you speak only to me."

Neko huffed but agreed in her own silent way. She crossed her arms and happened to see a mirror to her left. She did not exactly like the look. All of the black with her dark hair and eyes just made her look pale and ghostlike. It seemed that she looked like… like…

Sasuke.

xXx

"Tsunade-sama, you called?" Shizune poked her head through the door to the Hokage's office and was waved in immediately.

"Shizune, I want your opinion on something," Tsunade began and Shizune took the usual seat before the desk.

"Go ahead, I'm here to help," Shizune encouraged and Tsunade smiled gratefully.

"As I've told you, my mother was a Neko. That's how I was able to help Sasuke tell us what we needed to know, and to let Neji go to help his cousins and friends."

"So you want to tell Neko-chan?"

"I think so, but I can't think of how to do it. If I were to tell her I would expect her to ask for training, when I don't have the time with Sakura."

"Would you like my opinion on everything?" Shizune asked and waited for Tsunade to give her a slight nod. "I believe Neko-chan should know, she can use the support of more family. Also, Sakura-chan has advanced very far. She will not require much more training, and I would be happy to help with that if you needed the time with Neko-chan."

"I couldn't ask that of you, Shizune."

"You're not asking; I am offering," Shizune stood with a smile and began to leave. "Think about it, I'm always willing to help."

"Shizune," Tsunade's tone made her pause and turn. "Thank you."

The assistant smiled sweetly and went back to her desk.

xXx

The Uchiha cousins left promptly and made the walk across town in silence. Neko had no idea of what to expect, it was not like she had ever had a clan to be a part of before. Would it be like in school when it did not matter if you paid attention to the teacher as long as it looked like you were? Or would it be like their teams, where one person tells everyone else what to do? And what was this branch family thing about? Why now?

The Hyuuga complex soon loomed before them, seeming bigger than ever before. Neko passively fell in five steps behind Sasuke and they continued to the complex. Before long a fair-faced Hyuuga appeared and began to escort them to their set meeting point. Finally, they found themselves in a room with Hiashi sitting at a table and a few others sitting behind him. Neko found little comfort in seeing Neji there. What if she messed up? She would still have to face Neji in training, plus Sasuke's cold silence at home. Butterflies were now dancing freely in her stomach.

"Welcome, Uchiha-san," Hiashi bowed politely as Sasuke and Neko returned it. He then signaled for Sasuke to sit across from him; Neko took the spot conveniently located five steps behind Sasuke. "We have decided that it would be advantageous for both our clans if we were to form an alliance."

"How so?" Sasuke inquired, more for formality than anything else.

"It is obvious that the Uchiha clan needs growth more than anything at this time," Hiashi said matter-of-factly.

"And you can help this?" Sasuke sounded increasingly doubtful. It was beginning to be obvious where Hiashi was taking this.

"I propose an alliance. Your clan head, and our heiress," Hiashi said. Sasuke made no response as Neko immediately saw Hinata behind her father. She was sitting next to Hanabi, whose arm had healed thanks to Sakura, and shaking like a leaf. Neko could feel the situation pulling at her heart strings : there was something wrong here. Sasuke was drifting into a tense silence and the Hyuuga clan heads and elders were staring down at him. The Uchiha cousins were like two crows lost in the snow.

"I must discuss this with—" Sasuke twitched at calling Neko such a thing for lack of a better term "—my elder. May we have a moment in private?" Sasuke was seething inwardly; just because she was a year older she was the elder. It did not seem fair.

Of course," Hiashi waved them out of the room. Sasuke rose and Neko followed obediently. Once they were in the corridor, the door closed softly behind them and they were alone.

"I should have known," Sasuke grumbled and ran a hand through his hair. "Why else would they ask for an alliance _now_. Especially after last week."

"What do you mean?" Neko was confused.

"If I decline Hinata, then they'll suggest an alliance between the branch families," Sasuke looked her dead in the eye. "That means you and Neji. I can't do that to you, Neko."

"What's wrong with Neji?" she blurted out before she could stop herself.

"It's not Neji. Listen, if you were to just marry into the Hyuuga branch family then they would have the talents of three clans: Hyuuga, Uchiha, and Neko," Sasuke explained. "And their family is not as kind as ours when it comes to the branch family. We only use it as a general category for meeting purposes."

"And if you were to marry Hinata, they would be rid of their…"

"Disappointment," Sasuke said it when Neko could not. "Really, either way the Hyuugas would win unless I can negotiate with Hiashi. We would have to turn down both."

"What do you mean by negotiate?" Neko wanted to know, feeling oddly let down. He sighed again, looking very troubled. Neko frowned and glanced at the door. They would have her marry Neji just to have the strength of her blood, and they would marry off their eldest heiress without a second thought.

"If they weren't so hard on their branch members I would just have you marry Neji," Sasuke admitted.

"What?" Neko's eyes widened in surprise.

"Don't try to hide it, you two have chemistry. He speaks highly of you, and just now you were ready to slap me for saying I wouldn't let you marry him," Sasuke smirked as he watched her reaction carefully. Her cheeks were bright pink and she could not formulate a comeback. He knew he had caught her.

"What about Hinata?" Neko asked quietly.

"I can't do that," Sasuke glanced over at the door. "To Naruto."

"That's nothing if you really like her," Neko pointed out.

"I don't; let's leave it at that," Sasuke said and lifted his gaze back to her. "Let's go."


	15. Omukosan

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.  
**Author's Note:** Ah! I feel like it's finally coming to an ending! Nooooooo!!!!! And sorry for not having you beta, Cyberwolf, I've been sitting on this one and just wanted to get it up.

_Chapter 15: Omuko-san_

"Hiashi-sama, why is he consulting with that girl?" an elder asked.

"I don't know," Hiashi said simply. The elders were all calm and collected, while the younger clan members held a variety of emotions.

Hinata was in a state of worry. Her father had basically just asked Sasuke to marry her. What if Ino or Sakura found out? What would they do? Hinata felt her face pinked just at the thought of their taunts. But, what if he said yes? She would then have to marry him. She could not imagine "continuing the clan" with someone as cold as Sasuke.

Hanabi hated seeing her older sister like this. She had just started to get over the stuttering problem as well, and was improving in her skills. Now this had to happen. There were times when Hinata's shyness was overactive, but this time it was acceptable. It made no sense how their father had been so heartless. He had been so distant since their mother died, and now he only thought of clan business. It was hard on Hanabi who barely remembered their mother, but worse on Hinata who remembered it all.

Meanwhile, Neji was torn. He wanted someone to take Hinata away from this mess of a household, but not Sasuke. Sasuke was kind to Neko; he was good to family. But how would he treat a shy girl like Hinata? Neko could at least defend herself to a point. At the same time, Neji wanted to see someone defy Hiashi and say no. But then a branch house union would be suggested, that was obvious. Neji knew there was no way he could let that happen. It was not that he did not like Neko; rather it was that he liked her too much to let her become a part of the family he detested so much. It was not good enough for her.

They were all broken off from their thoughts when the Uchiha cousins walked back into the room and took their seats. Neji could not help but notice the disappointment on Neko's face and he wondered what had been discussed.

"I'm afraid I must decline your offer," Sasuke said simply.

This was it. They had to know Hiashi would suggest that the branch families unite, and Neji assumed that was why Neko was so disappointed. Neji's heart sank. Just the idea of marrying him made her feel that way? It had not been so long ago since he saw her crying face over him when the world started to go black. She had only been crying over a friend, despite what he had tried to tell her. He was suddenly glad that the words had not slipped out.

Neji barely even noticed when Hiashi suggested the second offer until he heard Sasuke's refusal.

"No," was all that Sasuke said. Flat, plain, and clear. Neji looked at him in amazement. They were rejecting both offers?

"What?" Hiashi said in a rather undiplomatic tone.

"While an alliance would be beneficial, I cannot allow my cousin to marry into a house that brands their own siblings and cousins," Sasuke explained and allowed the clan heads to gasp and a murmur to start. "However, I would allow their marriage under one condition."

Neko's head suddenly perked and she stared at her cousin in disbelief. He had a plan the whole time? She noted the look on Neji's face as well: hope. It was hard for her to hide a smile at that moment when they shared the same emotion.

"You tread on dangerous ground, Uchiha-san," Hiashi glared. "What is it?"

"We will accept Hyuuga Neji as Uchiha Neko's Omuko-san," Sasuke said and many pairs of eyes went wide.

Of course; an Omuko-san. Neko mentally slapped herself for not knowing that Sasuke would think of that. An Omuko-san was an adopted bridegroom that would take the family's surname and assume the obligations to his in-laws as though he were the first born son. Neko glanced up at Neji and noticed that he was smirking slightly. Only one who knew him well would be able to see it, and it was clear that the idea held merit for him.

"You must be joking," if possible, Hiashi had grown paler. The plan had backfired, and now he stood to either gain nothing or to lose the Hyuuga Prodigy.

"I am completely serious, Hyuuga-san," Sasuke spoke calmly.

"I need to discuss this for a moment…" Hiashi trailed off. "Elders only."

The large group filed out into the corridor slowly, led by the Uchiha cousins. Sasuke smirked gleefully as he went and Neko stopped him abruptly. She made him turn to face her and his smirk faltered slightly as he saw the look on her face.

"How long have you been planning that little stunt?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Ever since you gave me that embarrassed look in the hallway, I was trying to do you a favor," Sasuke retorted. She flushed slightly and tried not to notice the way some of the Hyuugas were glaring at them.

"Well… Thank you, but I don't think getting the Hyuuga clan on our bad side is the best way to start things," Neko admitted.

"Neko-chan?" someone interrupted and they turned to see Neji there, with Hinata behind him.

"Neji," she smiled at him politely.

"We need to talk," he gently took hold of her wrist and pulled her aside. Sasuke calmly watched them go and gently took in the glares of the various Hyuugas near him.

"Uh, S-Sasuke-k-kun?" Hinata said and he looked over at her embarrassed face.

"Yes?"

"T-thank you," she gave him an honest smile and he blinked in surprise.

Meanwhile, Neji had pulled Neko to the side and she could not help but feel confused. Too many things were happening at once, and was she really as close to becoming engaged to him as it seemed?

Deep down, she had always dreamed of this. Neji was always the one she had wanted to spend her life with, and it seemed like she could be a part of his life as long as they were friends. She knew they always would be, after he forgave her for what had happened. Now they were about a step away from going there. But did he feel the same way?

Neko also found herself doubting it. Marriage…What a loaded word! It meant so much commitment. A life together, and possibly dying together. Just like her parents had. Would she and Neji die like that? In a final embrace of affection? She already held his voice in her head and Itachi said that would never end… would their connection grow beyond that?

What good was being psychic if she could not know these things?

"Neko… about Hiashi's request…" Neji began and she tilted her head as she watched him talk. "Are you against it?"

Before replying, she saw how serious he looked. This was not like him, usually he would be telling her about what fate expected now. Then she could meditate and give him the answer to what fate was really saying. Somehow, it seemed like it would not be so easy this time.

"If it were anyone but you, I would be," she blushed and looked away. For some reason, the time on their way to rescue Chihhiro when he had shared his blanket with her flashed in her mind. They had been so close, and he had been so warm.

"Neko," he sighed. "Tenten. Do you remember what I tried to tell you after… the accident?"

She blinked in surprise at him. Had he just called her Tenten? Why?

"…that was the last time you used that name…" she said, more to herself than to him.

"Yes, I was trying to say I l—" he began but was cut off when Hanabi appeared.

"Neji-nee-san! They're going back in!" she said and ignored the glare he sent her.

"Uh, right," he grunted and went to go back into the meeting room. Neko let out the breath she had been holding in and trudged along behind.

"Hey, you're Uchiha Neko, right?" Hanabi caught her before they went back in.

"Yes," Neko replied and saw the girl smile mischievously.

"Thanks for helping us the other night," she grinned and began to walk away. "Oh, and for making Neji-nee-san smile."

Neko felt her face heat up as the younger girl dashed away to find her seat and Neko took hers near Sasuke. The people slowly found their places and then Hiashi cleared his throat to silence those present.

"With one more addition, we will accept your offer," Hiashi began and Sasuke nodded his understanding. "Uchiha Neko must defeat both of my daughters individually to prove that she is worthy."

Neko's eyes widened in surprise and Sasuke paused only for a moment. He cast a glance over his shoulder at her, and she nodded to him. For Neji, she could fight. Even if it was Hanabi and Hinata.

Sasuke sighed slightly, finding that this situation was becoming more of an issue than he had initially hoped for.

"Hyuuga-san, we accept your offer."

-x-X-x-

_The next day…._

Neko arrived early for training and sat down under a tree. She would spend the morning training with her team as usual, then the afternoon with Kakashi. It had become routine in this short time, but today did not feel at all like the usual routine. Because today it was not just Lee, Gai-sensei and Neji. Today it was Lee, Gai-sensei, and her fiancé to be.

This just seemed so... different.

It was not long before she sensed the familiar chakra of her teammate coming towards her. It had only been the night before that he had been sitting in that same room as their future was planned out by his uncle and her cousin. Neji wore a calm expression as he stopped in front of her and she smiled up at him. It had never occurred to Neko that she would be fighting for Neji one day, most of the girls in Konoha seemed too busy keeping their eyes on other boys.

"So... Do you want to beat Hinata and Hanabi?" Neji finally asked her.

"You mean, do I want to marry you?" she corrected him.

"Yes..."

Neko got up from her place under the tree and went over to him slowly, his white eyes watching her the whole way. She brushed one of the rare, stray hairs from his face and just stared deeply into his eyes for a moment.

"Do you remember what I said... before you blacked out?" she asked him.

"I remember most of it," he said and scrunched up his face as he thought. "You were saying 'stay with me, I...'"

"Do you know that last part?" Neko asked, feeling slightly nervous.

"...'I love you'...?"

She nodded up at him, her cheeks slightly pink as she smiled. He reached up and touched her cheek tenderly. Her sharingan flicked on and Neji blinked in surprise.

"It was the same thing I had tried to say to you... But I was never able to spit it out," Neji explained, his face as stoic as ever. How could he be so calm? Her stomach was doing cartwheels just standing there, looking at him, feeling his eyes on her, smelling the scent that always seemed to hang in the air when he was near her.

"I meant that then, and I meant it now," she said, letting her tough side take over. "Now show me a kaiten... I'm going to need every technique I can learn before that match."

He smiled at her and they parted before walking over to the clearing where he began to show her a few new things.

-x-X-x-

"So Sasuke tells me you're up against a couple of Hyuuga girls?" Kakashi teased her when she walked into the usual area. Neko nodded tiredly as Kakashi looked her over.

"Hinata and Hanabi, separately."

"And you've already done a few very tiring things with your team I see..."

"Yes, sensei..."

"And now a good part of your chakra is gone, you probably would be out after one practice run with your sharingan," he pointed out.

"You could say that..." she said sheepishly.

"And that fiancé-to-be just wore you out so much before you even got to training..."

"What?!"

"Oh, so he is a gentleman like I thought," Kakashi smiled at her and she blushed at the tease. "It's a good thing I planned something different for today, since you're worn out."

"Oh...?"

"Yes, and here she is," Kakashi pointed to his left and Tsunade walked through the trees and into the clearing. She smiled at Neko, who blinked in surprise at seeing her old idol.

"Tsunade-sama?!?!" Neko blurted in surprise.

"Yes, I will be helping you with your training today. We are going to be working on balancing the Neko and Uchiha blood in you."

"You mean… I can learn more of my Neko side?" the girl looked confused. "I thought I was the only one left."

Tsunade stared deeply into Neko's eyes, never blinking. "There is something I have to tell you now, before another word is spoken…"


	16. Preparations

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing… Except the plot of this, since it has gotten so totally AU it's out of this world…. Or any world...

**Author's Note: **Back from the dead with another chapter, since I've been getting begging. Sorry to make you guys wait so long! But I am in the middle of graduation, finals, and moving up to college among other random drama. Bear with me? Please? There are other stories with just as many beggars who don't get nearly this many updates...

**Chapter 16: Preparations**

"_You_?" Neko looked shocked, and her mouth had not closed since Tsunade had made the announcement. The Hokage nodded and looked down silently. Neko was still staring in surprise and Kakashi seemed reluctant to get the two talking. "So… that makes us…"

"Cousins," Tsunade finished for her. "My mother was older than yours, and their parents were cousins."

"Wow…" Neko shook her head in disbelief and ran a shaky hand through her hair. Tsunade? Her cousin? Yet another blow of family history knocked her senseless, almost as bad as the Uchiha one had. Kakashi had a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

Tsunade nodded, almost sadly. "I'm sorry for keeping it from you, but there is always a time for these things."

"Yeah… A whole year later is a great time," Neko glared at her and Tsunade seemed to understand her annoyance.

"Well, we will at least be able to help you with your challenge against Hinata and Hanabi," Tsunade finally said. "And trust me, the more you know about your Neko side the better."

XXX

"Neji, what's with Neko lately?" Lee asked as they worked on their aim, Gai was not satisfied that they were quite up to par. Naturally, now Lee was working on throwing several kunai at once instead of just the basics Gai had asked for.

Neji landed three kunai in a perfect line on the tree, looking strangely like the constellation Orion's belt. He tried not to imagine how happily Neko had congratulated him the first time he had done that.

"Neji?" Lee was standing next to his teammate, looking smug. Neji realized he was smiling and quickly forced the mirth from his face and regarded Lee casually. "That good, huh?"

"What do you mean?" Neji aimed around Lee and shot a few more projectiles at the tree. He missed all but one, which hit just below the target.

"She seems twice as busy and stressed today, she's training like her life is on the line," Lee raised his eyebrows dramatically. "There's something neither of you are telling me. I'm your teammate, we should be friends by now."

Neji's white eyes searched Lee's clear, dark gaze. He was right, they were friends. Neji had just thought Neko would be the one to tell him. Over ramen at lunch, when he got to training, he never thought he would be the one sharing it.

"She is busy, and I guess to some extent her life might be on the line…" he trailed off, checking that he wasn't betraying the wrong emotions. He didn't want Lee getting any outrageous ideas. "Last night there was a meeting between the Uchiha clan and the Hyuuga clan. It was to discuss… a union."

Lee's eyes widened. "Someone's getting married? Wait a minute…"

Neji shared a rare smile, and Lee's jaw dropped. Neji thought the boy had actually been struck speechless, but he suddenly changed his mind when the boy literally screamed with joy. Lee hugged Neji tightly, the sudden embrace startling the Hyuuga into activating byakuugan.

Lee finally set down his friend and calmed down enough to consider the rest of the explanation needed. "But… Why is she training?"

"Sasuke would only let her marry if I were taken as an omuko-san, to part with me they had to agree to one condition: Neko must beat Hinata and Hanabi in a competition. Separately."

"Really? Do you think she'll be able to?"

"I believe she can," Neji nodded, and he tossed a shuriken. It embedded itself deeply into the tree.

XXX

"You look exhausted," Sasuke said bluntly when Neko stumbled into the kitchen and crashed into the closest chair.

"Shut up…" she grunted and rubbed her eyes. Her head ached, and she closed her eyes as she ran fingers over her temples. Sasuke pushed a plate of dinner, ready and hot, in front of her. She smiled gratefully, and looked up to notice Naruto there for the first time. The blonde was grinning like a demon.

"Congratulations, Neko-chan," he said. "You've finally got Neji all to yourself."

"Not just yet I don't," she replied tiredly. "I've got to beat Hinata and Hanabi first."

Naruto's face darkened somewhat and he looked up at Sasuke. She wondered if her cousin had told him the whole story or just the good news. She chose not to reveal anything, Sasuke seemed on edge.

"Easy champ, it's only the first day," Sasuke muttered and joined them at the table. She grinned at him and ate the meal in silence.

Naruto slept on the couch, as usual, and Neko sat on the rock outside the window to her room. It had a great view of the fountain just beyond and it was a peaceful place to just sit and think. She didn't have to look to know that Sasuke had just come out onto the porch and was watching her there.

"You could announce yourself once in awhile," she told him.

"What? The psychic is losing her touch?" he mocked. She laughed emotionlessly. He didn't know how right he was, she had seemed to have lost her touch. She used to be able to feel his presence, she always knew how he was feeling. It was like there was a wall between them now. She hadn't noticed until the meeting last night, normally she should have known more of what was on his mind. That wasn't the case anymore.

"I don't know if I can beat them both," she admitted, sitting her chin on her knees and watching the moonlight reflecting off the water in the fountain. "They're his family, I don't know that I can bring myself to do it."

"I think that is what they're counting on," Sasuke said grimly. "They don't want to lose their prodigy. The girls will understand, they want what's best for Neji."

"Am I what's best for him?"

"Why not? You've known him the longest, and the best, I doubt anyone else has that kind of connection with him," Sasuke said. As Neko listened, she slowly realized that he had stopped talking about her awhile ago. "You just have to fight for it, just fight for what's right for you both."

"Sasuke… You should really follow your own advice…" she said and stood up on the rock to crawl back into her room and shut the window. Sasuke fell into an annoyed silence, staring quietly at the only pink flower by the fountain.

_Two weeks later…_

Neji paced nervously, looking up every time a Hyuuga hurried past him. The day had come, today was it. Neko was to face the Hyuuga heiresses, ready or not. He felt incredibly nervous for her, no doubt Hiashi had been working on training his daughters as well. No doubt advanced forms of gekkai genkai wouldn't be allowed, since we wouldn't want either Hinata or Hanabi mentally scarred for life.

The Uchiha clan-- the whole two of them-- were late. Neji bit his lip and continued pacing. Many people from the village were being escorted into the sides of the arena where they could have the best seats. Supposedly even Tsunade wanted to be here.

"Neji," Naruto's voice rang clearly down the hallway. Neji looked up at him, as though coming out of a gaze. With Naruto stood the rest of team seven--minus Sasuke. Where on earth were they?

"Hello Naruto," he said and nodded politely to the others.

"Ready to see the cat fight?" Naruto said in mock cheer. He likely didn't want to see Hinata hurt either, Neji had too much riding on this for it to matter anymore.

"Sure… Have you seen Sasuke?" _Where was Neko? _was what he wanted to know.

"Nope, he said he'd see us here," Naruto answered and scratched his head, Neji noted that Sakura had visibly paled. Something was going on here.

"Alright then, you should go find somewhere to sit," Neji gestured towards the entrance. It was weird, his home had been transformed into an arena. Naruto smiled his thanks and went in with the rest of his team. Neji returned to pacing, but not before seeing Sakura pull away and leave the Hyuuga home.

_An hour before…_

_"Sasuke!" Neko pounded on his door, her knocks growing ever more persistent. She grumbled and tightened her robe around herself. "Sasuke! Open up! I need you to tell me what I'm supposed to wear!"_

_It still struck her as odd that she needed her male cousin to tell her what was customary for her to wear._

_"Fine! I'll just get dressed and eat breakfast without you. Don't you try and tell me what I ought to be wearing!" she shouted and left the silent door._

_Her heart was pounding as she forced down the little breakfast she prepared. She feared that should she eat more, the butterflies in her gut would kick it right back up. She also found herself leaning back in her seat to watch for Sasuke, and straining her ears for the familiar sound of his emergence from his bedroom. The house was deafeningly silent._

An hour later, at the Hyuuga household…

Sakura burst out from the front doors, looking around for some kind of indication of which way the Uchiha household was. More specifically, where Sasuke was. She knew there was a reason he was gone, she knew something was wrong from the look in his eyes the past week. It hadn't been the Sasuke she knew, it was some spirit haunting him. Holding him back.

The wind blew, and she saw a few dark leaves blow past towards the left. Sakura's expression hardened, and she started running.

_The Uchiha Household, an hour earlier…_

_Neko walked to her cousin's room as she put up her hair into her usual buns._

_"Sasuke," she sighed and pushed her bangs out of her eyes. Neko felt the butterflies in her stomach multiply, this would not do. "That's it Sasuke, I'm coming in." She took a deep breath and opened the door, ready for whatever arsenal he launched at her. _

_The door creaked open. Nothing else happened._

_She walked in, confused and frustrated. "This isn't funny," she called out and searched the room. "I'm the one engaged here, remember? You shouldn't be the one with cold feet."_

_She opened his closet to find it half empty, as usual. Neko's eyebrows drew together in confusion, and she went through what remained in the closet. Something was missing. Suddenly she looked up, and it hit her._

_His mission pack, it was gone._

_She looked over at the window, and watched the wind blow the curtains into the room. Suddenly Neko felt sick. He was gone. Sasuke was gone._

Right before the tournament, at the Hyuuga Household…

"Neji-nee-san?" Hinata approached him from behind.

"Hinata-sama," he greeted her calmly. She stepped closer, seeming oddly uncomfortable in her outfit. Hiashi had both of his daughters dressed in traditional sparring attire, something they had rarely worn before. It was a loose robe over a black shirt with black netted sleeves and short black trousers.

"S-She's not here y-yet, is she?" she wanted to know.

"No, not yet," Neji said, and they both jumped when the door slammed open. Several pairs of eyes widened in surprise to see Neko holding open the doors, and panting. Her hair was in disarray, as though she hadn't finished putting it up or the bobby pins had failed her.

Automatically, she and Neji walked towards each other while everyone else just stared in surprise. She took several deep breaths to calm herself, but Neji could see in her eyes that something was seriously wrong.

"Neji… He's gone…" she breathed.

"Gone?"

"Sasuke… He's missing, I checked his room. The window was wide open, the bed was made, his mission pack was gone…" she gasped for air and leaned forward to grab Neji's shirt.

"Tenten, there has to be a reason--"

"I can't, I don't know, I can't…" she rested her head on his chest. "… do this, without him…."

Neji's throat tightened. So that was the way this worked.

XXX

She came to a halt at the bridge, the only one leading directly out of Konoha. Sakura panted heavily from the desperate run, the only carrying her only on faith. But there he was, a lone black figure leaving and never turning back.

"Sasuke-kun!" she cried out and ran after him. He barely paused to acknowledge her. She caught up and spun him around to face her.

"What do you want?" he said coldly.

"What do I want? What about your cousin? Your family?" Sakura demanded. "How can you leave today of all days?"

"You mean… You knew I would leave?"

"Some families have more in common than hair color," she said, with hardened green eyes. "Please, don't go."

"And why not? There's nothing left for me here," he turned to go, but once more she pulled him back to face her.

"What about the people that need you? How many would be dead now without you?" Sakura was angry, but she couldn't keep the hurt from her tone. "Don't you care about anyone?"

His glare cut her deeply, dark eyes that might as well have been stones stared right through her.

"You don't get it, and you never will. Neko's taken care of, she'll be happy," Sasuke spoke acidly.

"And how do you know? You won't even see it," she retorted. He ignored the remark and continued to walk. She was struck by the way he was so callous, she had thought he had changed in the time Neko had lived with him. It seemed he had hardened once more.

"Sasuke-kun…Sasuke-kun, please, I love you!" she pleaded, finally releasing the pent up tears.

"…Thank you," he said. She glanced up, but he was gone. She gasped suddenly in pain, he had just delivered a blow from behind. She collapsed instantly and blacked out.

------

A/N: Someone throw ideas at me, it helps the chapters move faster. Thanks!


	17. Distraction

**Disclaimer: **After 17 chapters, do you still think I own anything?

**Author's Note: **I'm finally somewhat on track again….Yay… And this one's a rough draft, frogive me but I just wanted to post it.

**Chapter 17: Distraction**

_"Sasuke-kun…Sasuke-kun, please, I love you!" she pleaded, finally releasing the pent up tears._

_"…Thank you," he said. She glanced up, but he was gone. She gasped suddenly in pain, he had just delivered a blow from behind. She collapsed instantly and blacked out._

XXX

As the best tracker available since it would take too long to find Kakashi, Neji was sent out to track down the reckless Uchiha. Naruto had tagged along, partly out of anger and partly just the fact that it was Sasuke.

Thankfully, Naruto knew better than to try and get Neji to talk.

The first thing they found was Sakura passed out on a bench, a sight only getting Naruto more pumped up to find his teammate.

"Take her back to the hospital," Naruto ordered Neji, who turned and glared.

"Excuse me? I thought I was the tracker," Neji retorted.

"Neji, if you don't let me do this I'll beat you to a pulp right now," Naruto seethed, his eyes almost seeming to flash red. Neji took a step back, remembering the broken bones the last time he crossed Naruto. He scooped up Sakura in response and the blonde dashed off towards Sasuke.

XXX

"This is ridiculous!" Neko screamed at Hiashi in the middle of the arena, ignoring how many Hyuuga branch members were backing away slowly.

"Rules are rules, you arrived on the premises and you must do the competition," Hiashi explained calmly.

"Neji isn't even here, because my _clan head _isn't here!" Neko continued to fume. "This is not how things were supposed to work out."

"Why wait for your cousin when he didn't even care enough to arrive on your special day?" he questioned.

Neko froze in anger and hurt, Hiashi recognized this as the time to put Hinata in the ring and clear the area for the tournament.

XXX

"What happened?" Tsunade wanted to know when Neji brought Sakura into the hospital.

"Uchiha Sasuke ran away, Naruto and I were sent to track him and we found her," Neji explained. "Naruto is continuing alone, with any luck he'll be able to catch up to him."

"Sasuke? Isn't Neko's tournament today?"

"Yes…"

"Get back to that, I'll send Kakashi," Tsunade said and waved Neji off. He sent her a questioning look, wanting to know how she would get Kakashi anywhere on time but he left anyway, not knowing htat Tsunade had Jiraiya's book as a secret weapon.

XXX

"Hyuuga Hinata versus…" the announcer's voice faded as Neko waited for this to be over with, after all this was the last place she wanted to be. "…Uchiha Neko. You may begin."

"Hinata-chan… I'm sorry if this gets out of hand…" Neko shook her head regretfully. Hinata nodded in understanding, but still shook like a leaf.

XXX

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura bolted upright in her hospital bed. Tsunade happened to be there and laid the girl back down before she got over excited.

"You were knocked out," Tsunade explained emotionlessly. "Probably by Sasuke."

"Where is he? Did they find him?" Sakura was frantic, she tried to sit up once more but Tsunade pushed her down again.

"Naruto is on his way, Kakashi is following," she said and Sakura seemed to take relief from that. Tsunade rose to give her some privacy, but Sakura grabbed her robe to stop her.

"He's going to Orochimaru, did you know that?"

"…Yes…" Tsunade paused. " I did."

XXX

Since byakuugan was allowed, Neko was also allowed basic level sharingan. She used it as she did when sparring with Neji--to stay out of range when needed.

Hinata had clearly also been training, she was considerably faster and could now use the 64 hands of Hakke technique that Neko was so carefully avoiding. Neko could see the girl was holding back since she was fighting an old friend, Neko however found she wanted this over with as quickly as possible.

She released five shuriken from each hand, successfully sending Hinata into a kaiten. Neko landed in front of the whirlwind, poised in preparation. As soon as Hinata stopped, Neko released a fireball.

Hinata squealed in pain and Neko used the distraction to jump back once more. By the time Hinata recovered she was in the middle of Rising Twin Dragons. She heard smart-alecky mutters as she prepared the attack. They all believed this to still be her ultimate attack, little did they know her chakra had only grown.

Instead of using kaiten, Hinata receded just out of range, forcing Neko to come down as she launched the last of her favored projectiles. Neko had come in range, and she could see Hinata readying a frontal attack.

That would be the last mistake of this round.

The voice in Neko's mind told her where to move, and she started to dodge Hinata's hit--

--But she suddenly screamed with pain, then writhed in agony when Hinata's gentle fist connected with her side.

"Oh my god," Lee murmured from the audience.

"What?" someone next to him wanted to know.

"That was her kidney…"

Shock flooded the audience as Hinata backed away carefully, her face a mish-mash of emotions as she waited for Neko to get up. Little did the Hyuuga know, this was the least of Neko's issues.

Neko slowly staggered up, one hand on her side and the other on her head. She turned to the white-eyed girl and lowered herself into a fighting stance.

'Are you okay?' Hinata mouthed and Neko nodded, trying to shut out the yells in her mind.

XXX

"Sasuke!" Naruto screamed at his teammate as he finally came into view. The Uchiha only began to run faster, but Naruto was right on his tail. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Suddenly Naruto found himself slammed into the nearest rock, a kunai at his neck and red eyes staring into him deeply.

"I'm doing something I should've done a long time ago…" Sasuke growled.

XXX

"What the hell happened? She was kicking butt out there!" a spectator near Lee said and he bit his lip as he watched his teammate. Neko was now on the retreat, Hinata's blows coming too fast and too furious.

He knew she was tired, he knew she was new to most of the abilities allowing her to hold her own. But something was very wrong here.

As Hinata neared range for the hands of Hakke, Neko did a back flip and actually landed on the railing of the audience, sending an array of gasps around the crowd. Hey, it wasn't against the rules. She saw her opponent getting ready to run up the wall after her, and to avoid that Neko dived forward--launching weapons at Hinata as she went.

Hinata was caught off guard and found herself unable to do a kaiten in time, although she dodged most of the weapons two kunai embedded themselves in one of her legs. Neko prepared for a landing, flipping in the air and reaching the ground on her feet. She watched as Hinata wrenched the weapons out of her leg and charged, Neko waiting for her to come into range.

Three steps…Two steps…One…Neko flicked her wrists and the chakra strings hooked onto her weapons tightened and tripped Hinata.

Some people in the audience laughed, thinking that the Hyuuga had tripped on her own, but most knew better. Neko did not waste time when Hinata was on the ground, she quickly added more chakra strings to pin the girl onto the ground.

The proctor waited for Hinata to try and get up, and made a hand signal to the announcer when enough time had passed.

"Round one winner is Uchiha Neko!" the announcer cheered and the audience drowned the sound with applause. Neko sighed in relief and undid the chakra holding Hinata.

"Hinata-chan?" Neko asked, watching the girl turn towards her.

"T-that was g-great Neko-chan!" Hinata smiled. Neko grinned back, but her hand found its way back to the area where Hinata's gentle fist had skimmed her. It still hurt like crazy, but she would have to stick it out for another round.

She just wished that Sasuke would stay out of her head for at least that long.


	18. Interlude

**Disclaimer: **The only characters I own are Itoichi and Kaede, mwahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!

**Chapter 18**: Interlude

_"T-that was g-great Neko-chan!" Hinata smiled. Neko grinned back, but her hand found its way back to the area where Hinata's gentle fist had skimmed her. It still hurt like crazy, but she would have to stick it out for another round._

_She just wished that Sasuke would stay out of her head for at least that long._

Neko could hear the excitement outside, as she and Hinata waited for the next round in the wing connected to the arena. Medics tended to what they could, and Neko saw the one working with her hide a gasp at the bruise forming on her side. She already knew the next fight would not be going so smoothly.

Hinata and Hanabi had more of a chance. Hinata got to be healed and leave. Neko could only be given enough to patch her up for the next fight.

Hinata said her good-bye to Neko and left just before Hanabi came in, giving Neko only a few moments to cradle her head in her hands.

Why would Sasuke do this now? Why?

_Why worry about it Neko? _

She hissed for the voice in her head to shut up, the one that had been there since the mission that gave her these special eyes. It wasn't even really him. Just a projection, that was what Tsunade had called it.

_Come on, Neko-chan. I'm here for you, I'll always be here for you. _

Neko leaned forward, placing her head between her knees and scaring one of the medics. It looked like she was going to throw up. When the too-sweet voice of pre-death Neji found it's way into her thoughts, it had that effect on her. Although compared to the images of Sasuke's angst, it was a blessing. Hanabi came in the side door, getting her check up before she was allowed to fight. Neko did not want to look, she already knew that Hanabi would be the one to make her win honestly. Hinata had been putting on a show.

_Neko, you know I can help you. We can do this. _

She finally felt herself break down. It was worth a shot… Neji was worth a shot.

"Make him stay out of my head… I don't want him there anymore…" she murmured to Neji, concerning the medic once more as now she appeared to have a concussion.

_Tsunade's technique. She taught you for a reason. _

That was all she needed to hear. A buzzer sounded, alerting the girls that it was time to go. Neko went without a glance back, looking like someone who had resigned themselves to the gallows already.

XXX

_"Itoichi," Kaede's voice flowed softly on the wind, he did not even have to turn to see the look on her face._

_"So you saw it too?" he murmured as she sat down next to him on the balcony of their apartment, Itoichi unconsciously reached out to touch his wife's swollen belly. She nodded as she settled her head on his shoulder, he wrapped an arm around her comfortingly. _

_"I can only think of one thing to do," Kaede admitted, catching Itoichi slightly by surprise. It had only been last night when they shared the dream, evidently it had disturbed her deeply._

_"You tried _that_ again, didn't you?"_

_"There's more to it," her hands glided across her stomach as her daughter changed position. "I think… it might work."_

_He sighed softly, communicating his doubts._

_"And… I think we need to take that mission, once Neko is delivered."_

_"…I knew you were going to say that."_

XXX

_The Twin Swords had no official rank, as even ANBU felt safer when the pair decided to join them. Two fighting as one was rare if at all ever seen--and most who got to see the Twin Swords in action were truly honored, as the rest usually died. _

_Itoichi's swordsmanship had only been matched by Kaede's speed, whenever she was in a tight spot all she had to do was lean out of the way. In a single movement she cleared the path for Itoichi's blade, something no one ever saw coming and their enemies hoped never to see._

_Even apart, the two worked perfectly in sync. When her attackers learned how she would strike, within seconds she had traded with Itoichi--just before landing a deadly blow._

_Some said they never even spoke to each other. They just knew._

_Rumors, as with all legends, sprang like wildfire around the two shinobi. It was love, many argued, that bonded the two so deeply and truly. Kaede felt Itoichi's pains so deeply she was able to know when to strike against his enemies, and he knew her so well by the way she moved he knew when to come to her aide._

_Others argued that this was foolishness, stories told to amuse the hopeful young kunoichi. The real truth was that Itoichi was a rejected Uchiha, all there was to it. He resented his family so strongly that he created a new way to use sharingan, somehow sharing his gift with his lover. His eyes were perfect enough for the two of them, and so lead the way into battling with perfection._

_Those who knew the Twin Swords dismissed these rumors, they had their own theory. Kaede's bloodline was the answer, as it was the Nekos who had true foresight. They could know where a blow would be landed without even looking, much less using a steady stream of chakra to hold that vision in place. Between them, Kaede's skills held their fighting style in tact. Because, very few knew, that any of the Neko clan who chose to become a ninja found their 'twin sword,' despite how it seemed to always end tragically. _

_Why were these two the famed 'twin swords?' It wasn't any one of the theories; it was all of them. _

_Fate pulled a pair together, a star-crossed partnership born in times of battle. It was for this that most of the Neko clan used their power for religion and other paths. The few and the brave chose to risk it all, just for one more fight. People like Itoichi and Kaede usually knew it was coming, as the bond tying them together was deeper than any could ever feel._

_Uchihas, on the other hand, were often considered the clan of loners. They worked together when necessary but the grounds around their family home was often silent._

_Naturally, it was the rogue Uchiha and his wife who broke the mold._

_He didn't like fire, he preferred using as many weapons as he could carry. When Kaede came along, she liked the fire. She always told him that it wasn't that the fire jutsu annoyed him, it was that he had too much fire in his spirit to let it out. His first step across the line was teaching her Uchiha fire jutsu, hers was showing him how she saw the moves in a fight._

_Needless to say, they were soon both in trouble. But that only seemed to drive them closer together, like they only had each other. _

_In the end, it was Neko Kaede's technique that finally bonded the two and made what they were possible. It was all she had asked for when she left the Nekos to marry Itoichi, and they had consented grudgingly. A ceremony of hand seals, special sake and a ritual chant; from this the twin swords were born._

XXX

Neko skidded back, twirling twin scythes around her wrists to prepare for another attack by Hanabi. They were reduced to only allowed basic taijutsu and weapons for the first fifteen minutes--a handicap designed to aide Neko as she recovered from the first fight. In return, after those first fifteen minutes any and all bloodline techniques.

Hanabi was faster than Hinata, Neko found herself wondering if the girl trained with ankle and wrist weights like Lee did. She narrowly dodged a hit, careful to avoid another 'gentle' skim like the one hindering her now.

She fought to control the scenes screaming through her head, Neko could feel the curse seal as Sasuke activated it. She prayed that Naruto was strong enough to drag the Uchiha back home, she needed to tear him apart for this.

At the same time, she couldn't help but wonder why Neji wasn't in the fight with Sasuke. Had he already been injured? If so, why didn't she see it?

"Time's up! Bloodline techniques allowed!" the loudspeaker boomed, at the worst possible time. Neko found herself against a wall--and within Hanabi's range of divination.

XXX

Neji ran into his house and almost took out spectators that were looking for the toilets as he rounded the corner. The crowd grew louder as he drew closer, shouts of horror were increasing with every beat. When he finally slowed to throw open the doors and enter, the crowd fell silent and gasps of concern were few and far between.

He walked out for a better view, hearing Lee's voice screaming for Neko to get up. Hanabi was retreating to the middle of the arena, looking slightly guilty as Neko lay crumpled on the ground. Neji's stomach turned to ice, it looked like she wasn't going to get up.

"Tenten!" he screamed and ran to the edge of the spectator's box over the arena. "Tenten! Get up!!!"

XXX

She'd been hit with the 64 hands of Hakke before, but now she was sure that Neji had gone easy on her. It had never made her ache from every joint in her body, even the ones she was pretty sure Hanabi had not hit. The younger Hyuuga heiress had retreated to the middle of the arena, waiting for Neko to try and get up. Why bother? She was a goner anyway. Where was Neji?

A scream from the stands roused her.

"Neji…" she muttered, listening carefully. It came again and she felt her sore joints starting to move again. Her eyes danced over the shocked Hanabi and up to the stands. It was so blurry… why was there a light back there?

"That was a nasty hit! Can Uchiha keep at it?" the announcer taunted her but she stared as her eyes slowly focused in on Neji, who was in the stairwell of the stands.

_'Hell yes I can keep at it…' _Neko closed her eyes, feeling the familiar bloom of sharingan course over her vision. In return, Hanabi activated byakuugan and closed her eyes. Neko smirked, the girl was smart.

_Do it. I can help you… _Neko felt her gaze swivel up to the crowd, and saw Neji nodding. Was the voice really him?

_Tenten, do it. It's not just your future on the line here. _She saw him distinctly nod before walking over to sit by Lee, whom she knew would be an important third piece to this puzzle.

Neko turned back to Hanabi, launching a tidal wave of weapons with barely a seconds notice. The girl flinched at the unknown levels of chakra coming at her, almost opening her eyes to see what was happening. Neko used the chance to kneel and begin the hand seals, feeling an extra source of chakra pumping into her technique as she went on.

If every bloodline limit was allowed, she would show what the Neko clan was really capable of.

XXX

_"Kaede…" Itoichi trailed off as they paused for camp. It was the first night of the mission that they would be on for a year. _

_"You know it was the only way," she snapped, her anger driving more spark into the fire jutsu lighting their fire. Near by was the group of Jounin accompanying them, but the duo preferred working alone. Their allegiance to Konoha was more out of respect for their home than being a part of it. _

_He fell silent, his eyes asking why they could not have just the first year. She wiped away a tear, wishing it had been possible. Itoichi knew her visions, but he couldn't see them like she did. He didn't see what happened at the Uchiha home, where Neko would have been had they stayed longer. He did not see how Neko would die first, because their apartment was one of the first in the nine-tail's path. _

_Anonymity was life. Ignorance was bliss. Leaving her only child meant the baby would survive._

_"Itoichi, I just want her to have a chance…" Kaede said, feeling his arms wrap around her tight._

_"You let me share everything else, for once would you share this burden? Let me help you…" he murmured, burying his face in her hair. She choked back a sob as she realized that they were in the same position that they would someday die in._

_-------_

A/N: Two updates in one week? Almost makes up for that evil gap, huh? (And that was rhetorical...) Initially this chapter was going to be all flashback between Itoichi and Kaede... Didn't happen. Hehe, anyways please review!


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